ARTIST STATEMENT

My mind is like a college dorm on Friday night, but my Norwegian roots force a more restrained presence. As the chaotic events in the world exist together along with the stillness of the rocks, mountains and trees, so do I with my racing thoughts and often contained demeanor.

I make energetic, layered, and intuitive work to express my love and connection to the people in my life, the natural world and the lessons of nature. Making art is inextricably connected to daily walks, an integral part of my practice for more than 40 years. I hike the same trails hundreds of time and am still surprised daily by the light, views, fog patterns, plant life cycles, coyote, bird, deer, bobcat, fox, hare…..every detail of the environment. The natural world creates a calm inspiring wonder that has become as precious to me as the people I love.

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

AWARDS

International Juried Exhibition Art2Life - September 2023