ARTIST STATEMENT

I paint energetic intuitive abstract stories inspired by light and how it creates color and shape, the aromas of the seasons, the trees, the coyote, my thoughts and emotions when I’m in moving through nature.

Integral to my process is spending mornings outside, usually by myself, on trails I love.  I stop often, taking pictures and short videos of shadows, colors, a small leaf in the breeze.

Afternoons are spent in the studio. I work in acrylic/mixed media materials on loose rolls of canvas tacked to the wall. I paint intuitively dropping into a flow state of curiosity and wonder.

I can’t sit at a table and make art……I need to move. I keep my palette across the studio so I can stay in motion.  I always have music playing. Often words strung together in melody weave themselves into a painting and become part of how my work is titled.

My heart skips a beat when I see exciting interactions between colors. I love line and big smooshy marks made by dipping my tools in multiple colors at once. Lately transparent colors hold a special attraction.  I paint almost exclusively with them. I love thin glazes.The stories I paint can only be partially described with words.

A home studio in Marin County keeps me near the waters of San Francisco Bay, the rugged Northern California Coast and the foothills of Mt. Tamalpais…….my unending inspiration.

BIO

After graduating from design school and becoming a certified interior designer, Claire enjoyed a fulfilling 30+ year career as founder of a notable San Francisco Bay Area commercial design firm (RMA.studio). In 2020, she transferred her business to the next generation of partners and returned to her visual art roots, becoming a full time painter.

Claire studied with a number of internationally collected artists and focused on developing her studio practice. Most of her paintings find their roots in nature and include abstracted images from daily walks near the water, in the hills and from life on an old boat docked in Sausalito she shared with her husband.

As an emerging Bay Area artist, her piece, “Westerlies and Windy Seas” from the “Paint the Boat” series was  honored as one of 60 works selected from a field of over 5,000 entries in an international juried exhibition (2023). She has had 2 solo shows (2024) in the SF Bay Area and participated in many juried exhibitions.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Studio Vittorelli, San Rafael, CA - Solo Show - December 2023

Harvest Wealth Management, San Anselmo, CA - Solo Show - December 2024- February 2025

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Arts Guild of Sonoma “Glimpse” Juried Show: January 2024

Arts Guild of Sonoma “Past Present Future” Juried Show: January 2025

Healdsburg Center for the Arts “Kaleidoscope” Show: January 2024

Arts Benicia “Art of a Community”: January 2024

Graton Gallery Creatives by the Bay Group Show: February 2024

Marin Open Studios “Creatives by the Bay” group show: May 4-5, 2024

Marin Open Studios “Creatives by the Bay” group show: May 3, 4, 10, 11, 2025

Marin Art and Garden Center Harvest Show: November 2024

Conversations with Artists: The Language of Abstraction 2025

Conversations with Artists: Spaces and Places 2025

Conversations with Artists: Artist interview 2025

AWARDS

International Juried Exhibition Art2Life - September 2023