In August 1994, one of the most humble, likeable and friendly people on earth was born. At the same time, however, Sjur-Magnus Aaboen came into the world with a bang.

Raised among the mountains of Jotunheimen in Skjåk, deep in Gudbrandsdalen, it is not surprising that mountains and leisure were never of any interest to Sjur-Magnus.

Food and cars, however, were right on target.

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, creativity was a strong focus for me. I always enjoyed painting and drawing, and I eventually started at the arts school, with Runa Aurmo as my teacher. Here I learned basic technique, which would follow me for many years. I was also a graceful and elegant gymnast, see the picture.

As I got older, I put the brush (and the RG tapes) on the shelf.

Since nothing special happened in 2020, I had a lot of free time. I eventually decided to try painting a little again, and to my great surprise, I thought it was incredibly fun. I started painting watercolor pictures, with acrylics over them. Colorful watercolor backgrounds with black and white acrylics in the foreground created an expression that I was very happy with. My first picture was a yellow picture of a Volkswagen bus, so this picture will probably be worth an awful lot of money eventually.

I also decided to try drawing on my drawing board. The result was similar to the paintings, only "cleaner" and more minimalist.

I was very pleased with these posters. The first picture was again yellow, but this time it portrayed MS Gjendine, on its way over Gjende. I got a very good response to this picture, and I slowly began to dream of being able to make and sell such pictures to those who wanted them.

I was then invited to exhibit my pictures at Galleri Mathilde in Skjåk. This was incredibly fun, and that was the start of "SMAartboen", a mix of my private username "SMAaboen" and the word art. I had a bit of an imposter syndrome when I launched my Instagram account, because I didn't feel like this was something people would want to see. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the response.

So we're in 2026, and I'm opening this online store. (The picture is from 2021, but it's a cool picture, OK?). The response has been overwhelming, and I have my own online store, as well as sales in two physical retail locations, and have also received some private orders. All of this is absolutely incredible to me, and I appreciate each and every one who orders and supports me.

Thank you very much! <3