Claire Howlett

Claire's inspiration is derived from the natural world: Its beauty, its wildness and its serenity.

Her artwork aims to capture the raw mood of a place, its atmospheric essence. Focusing primarily on water and light, this subject matter is translated in a non- representational way into her paintings.

She says: ‘For me, the energy that is born from the sense of a place is what inspires the work, the residual memory of being immersed in that landscape. Our coastline resonates deep within. I am entranced by the light, the tangled breeze that can whip up from nowhere, sunlight dancing on water, ominous skies - the majesty and melancholy of the wild places. It weaves together to evoke a passion I try and translate via my work.’

Each painting begins organically and is allowed to evolve almost viscerally, striving to capture the intangible as well as the sense of place. Most images develop in many layers, using glazes and texture, applying and stripping back the paint using hands, brushes, rags: moulding the surface until the work feels complete. There is the obvious similarity with the landscape within this, the echoes, memory and substructure beneath the finished final image, showing all the marks of history, of making.

Other factors also contribute into the art also - the written word, music; a sense of belonging, loss, freedom and those gossamer connections to something far greater. An awareness of climate change and human impact is also prevalent, that these places are being eroded and threatened; that their beauty needs space to breathe, to be nurtured.

Claires work hangs in private and corporate collections, both nationally and internationally.

She studied art at Oxford Brookes and subsequently trained as a fine art restorer. More recent painting courses include St. Ives School of Art, the RWA and the Newlyn School of Art.