When oil painter Valerie Jaimes first came to Alaska, she didn’t think that she would be here long.
“When I first came here, I didn’t think I would be here for a long time,” she said. “So I was like, ‘Let me get some small things and do a few paintings, and then I’m going to leave and go to other places.’ That didn’t happen.”
Originally from Houston, Texas, Jaimes says she grew up primarily with indoor hobbies, like music or coloring. When she was eight years old, she began going to a neighbor’s house for art lessons. Jaimes says that was the first experience at a young age that gave her the confidence she needed to keep doing art…