Jamila Hume

My art pays homage to the colours, aromas, gestures and pause extended to us by nature in full bloom. My dream has always been to paint large, vibrant oil paintings that are luxurious in texture and colour and that express whimsical movement and joy.

I was born in England to a British mother and Moroccan father. As a family we moved to Vancouver, Canada where I was raised and attended university. In 2010, I immigrated to Australia.  

In 2017 while living in Greece with my husband, I decided it was time to pursue my childhood dream so I relocated to Florence, Italy. I spent just over a year painting and touring galleries, museums and the Tuscan hills. The opportunity to spend time alone, immersed in a process of personal artistic discovery was foundational for the art that I create today. Previously, I worked as an anthropologist in the resources sector. My career took me to many rural and regional areas of the world. My cultural heritage combined with my previous career have greatly influenced my art: I love rich deep colours and often spend many days per week mixing up new colours and palettes. I find inspiration in a single flower petal; a large, rambling gardenscape or a gestural bouquet of fresh, local flowers. I paint freely with my palette knife. I apply a very thick layer of oil paint and then start the visual journey by first adding foliage and then responding to the blending and bleeding of colours. My process is akin to a stream of consciousness: one gestural mark leads to another, the colours change as they pick up the background colour or the adjacent marks; the painting emerges over a series of days. Each one of my paintings takes about one week to paint. 

Over the past three years I have exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in commercial and regional galleries. My hope is that my art brings people to a pause and that every single time they look upon one of my pieces, they find something new. I am delighted to know that my work resides in homes across the world. I am proof that childhood dreams do come true.

I now live in Nyngan, NSW with my husband and our two Labrador retrievers. I have a studio in town and paint every day. I love the outback, there is nothing as magical as the big open sky found therein.