Julieta Beltran and Her Creative Soul
Julieta Beltran and Her Creative Soul
I’m so fortunate to have Julieta as part of my creative world, as a painter, artist, photographer, and fellow seeker of beauty. I met her through Santa Fe Workshops, and was excited that she was the zoom assistant for my last workshop - and what a great experience! She brings a thoughtful, intuitive spirit to everything she touches, and I’m continually inspired by the way she moves between mediums and ways of seeing. Recently, she gifted me an original dry pastel painting of a bird of paradise, her favorite flower and one that carries the memory of her mother. Its vivid form and beautiful edges speak to so much of what I love about art: texture, memory, transformation, and the fleeting nature of life.
I had a great conversation with her this summer and wanted to share it with you.
Q: Where are you from and how does it affect your artwork?
A: I'm Mexican, born and raised in Mexico City, now living between San Miguel de Allende and beautiful Querétaro. My work is all about food and nature that feel like Mexico, especially how food connects us through memory, how it's just part of who we are. I paint in warm, saturated colors, terracottas, marigold oranges, deep purples, because that's the palette Mexico lives in, for me.
Picture a painting of a Mexican market: you don't even need to know what city it's in or when it was painted. The colors alone carry the smell, the warmth, the feeling. That's exactly where I want to take you.
Q: How did you begin your journey with painting?
A: I always loved painting, and I always knew art was going to be part of my life somehow. But when I decided to actually study it in San Miguel de Allende, everything clicked, I realized this wasn't just something I loved, it was what I was meant to do.
Q: What calls to you to create art?
A: Being aware of my senses, honestly, and feeling grateful I even have them. Smells, textures, colors, tastes. Getting to translate all that into something physical is my biggest passion. Color's usually where a feeling shows up first for me, even before I know what the piece is really about.
Q: Do you find yourself drawn to certain colors?
A: Totally depends on the season, my mood, whatever I'm going through, it changes almost every year. Right now it's orange and purple. Orange feels warm and nostalgic to me, purple feels a little more introspective. Honestly my colors are kind of like a diary of wherever I'm at.
Q: What do you hope viewers take away after seeing your art?
I just want them to feel at home. Whether it's abstract or impressionist, I want the color and the whole feel of it to transport people somewhere warm and familiar, comforting, even if they've never actually been there.
Q: What painting or project are you working on these days?
A: Right now I'm working on a project to honor my mom, who passed away this past December. It's a set of paintings of her favorite snacks, meals, candy, drinks, all the stuff that's just so typical of Mexican moms. I'm using the same warm oranges and purples I've been into this year, letting the color hold the nostalgia just as much as the food does. I really hope it feels tender and familiar, and reminds people of their own moms.
Instagram: @julieta.fruta
julietabeltranbarza@gmail.com