Taking inspiration from surrounding landscapes, Claire’s starting points are often elements from the passing seasons and wide, changing moods of her East Anglian home. ‘I make paintings that chart and describe the seasons, skies, seas, moons, fields, flowers, and foliage of the area: canvases of energy and flux. These works are felt and heard as much as seen, stirring memories and experiences from these vast counties. Unexpected colour combinations stimulate, and bring energy to interior spaces.’ Playing along the continuum of abstraction and semi-realism, some pieces resemble recognisable places or known scenes, whilst others are pushed to the limit of their familiarity.

Claire lives in Norwich, Norfolk, and studied at the Norwich School of Art, and the Universities of Lancaster and Oxford, gaining degrees in both art and music. She taught for many years in Lancashire and Surrey, returning to Norfolk to paint full-time in 2016. A synaesthete (which, in Claire’s case, means that colour and sound are experienced interchangeably) she uses environment, music and seasonal rhythms as a starting point for many pieces.