Justīne Seile-Urtāne ^{Emerging artist}

Artist's country of origin: Latvia

Justīne did make her childhood dream come true. She become an “art person” well sort of, she studied to become a portrait painter.

First she was a sportist. 12 years of figure skating, 2 years of cheerleading and somewhere in between inline skating. While studying in high school Justine went to Ventspils youth centre fine art studio where she began her long road of becoming a painter. Artist Mārīte Kluša taught her all the basics, starting with the cube. She did also attend a few art courses to learn basics in drawing and painting. After high school she went to Liepāja where she studied arts for two years at “Liepāja collage of design, arts and music”. After the Liepāja period she got accepted at “Art Academy of Latvia”. And in a seven years period she got a Bachelors and Masters degree in painting.

Justīne describes her style and works as everyday documentation with a slight irony. They are narrative, precise and detailed compositions, executed according to the traditions of realism. Justīne has had two larger personal exhibitions, one in Riga “Grand Poet hotel” and in Talsi museum’s exhibition hall. And a few smaller exhibitions alongside several group exhibitions. Her works have been included in personal collections in Latvia, USA and Austria. She has participated in Liepāja “Karosta festival” where she painted flowers and mushrooms all over the prison cell. Also she has participated in Lithuania’s “Young painters prize” where she was a 3 times finalist. At the moment Justīne is living in Latvian countryside with her husband and a newborn child where she is working on a new exhibition which will tell us all about her everyday as a rookie mom and how hard and also wonderful it can be.