Artist Statement: Clare has a background in textiles - specializing in carpet design for her B.A. - and began her career based in Kidderminster at the heart of the carpet industry. She now divides her time between designing for manufacturers and working as a fine artist.
‘I enjoy the connection with people in designing products for their homes and I bring elements from my work as an artist to the design process. The interplay between self-expression and communicating with others through making art is fascinating and adds to the creative process’
She has always had a love of drawing and went on to study botanical illustration at Birmingham University, founding the Birmingham Society of Botanical Artists with fellow students. The discipline of observational drawing underlies and informs both her design work and painting.
‘Life drawing is a big part of my current practice – I enjoy working with other artists and the immediacy of this way of drawing. Contrasting the freedom of large scale charcoal or ink drawings produced in workshops with the more controlled pieces I work on in my own studio feeds back into the way I work’
Recent exhibitions include ‘Botanical Inspirations’ at RAMM, Exeter in May 2016, SWAc at Exeter Castle in September 2016, and ‘Power of Three’ at Artizan in August 2017. Clare exhibits regularly in Teignmouth and will be part of 2018’s ‘Devon Open Studios’ at the TAAG Gallery there.
‘My paintings and drawings are a response to my surroundings and my place within them – the beautiful landscape of Devon where I live, the excitement of travelling to other places, the natural objects that are precious to each place. I paint collections of shells and pebbles, plants, insects and fungi, and look for rhythm and pattern within both these and my larger work about the sea, sky, steep cliffs and abandoned boats.
I love working in oils, experimenting with the marks, textures and powerful colour that the medium can create, and also work in watercolour, devoting hours to a subject and using the smallest brushes. Part of the joy is the contrast between the two!’
Work Description: ‘Favourite Brushes’ was one of the first paintings I made when I really started to enjoy painting in oils – it hangs in my studio near the little pot of brushes and reminds me how happy I can feel when I’m painting.
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