I use watercolor mixed with seawater to capture the timeless light and sensory memory of St. Barthélemy, painting not just what the island looks like, but how it feels.
My work is a meditation on memory, light, and place.
I paint to relive the sensation of salt air, bright sun, and the quiet poetry of island life.
Using watercolor mixed with Atlantic and Caribbean seawater, I allow the environment itself to shape each piece — the sea becomes part of the pigment, binding my work to the landscapes that inspire it.
I am drawn to the timeless beauty of St. Barthélemy: its old fishing boats, its changing harbors, its simple and enduring rhythms.
Through vivid, atmospheric color and softened forms, I seek not to record reality exactly as it is, but to preserve the way it feels — nostalgic, luminous, and alive.
My paintings are an homage to the island’s spirit and a way of keeping its stories and sensations close, even as time transforms its shores.
Julienne's portrait in VIP St Barth
Julienne Hillyer is an American but her first name is French. Her mother made a mistake when she registered the name but she is proud of it. It is a name that connects her with France and thus with Saint Barthélemy. The only country she has ever visited in her life...