About the Artist

I am a native of Minnesota, born in the fall of 1952. The eldest of five siblings. A time when we had wooden crank telephones with party lines. I attended a small county school in the little northern town of Brook park. The school is long gone and the town even smaller now. It was here I found myself singled out for my artistic abilities. Both positively and negatively. The positive influence came in the form of Mrs. Carly my first grade teacher. She had me decorating blackboards, designing her get well cards, and doing paintings on paper. She entered my art in the county fair and I won my first blue ribbon!

The negative influence was the principle Mrs. Fosdick. She would do things to discourage my interest in art. One day she told me to come up to the front of the class and draw a straight line on the blackboard. Then said " go sit back down" you will never be an artist, you can't even draw a straight line. Another time she announced to the class "Claire doesn't think she has to learn math because she thinks she's going to be an artist". At that time I didn't even know what an artist was! I just kept making art. I do wonder if Fosdick could be the reason my art seldom has any straight lines in it?

By the end of  sixth grade we moved to the big town of Cambridge, which at the time had a stoplight! Its now considered a suburb of the twin cities.

While still in high school I took the "Art Instruction Schools Inc" correspondence course. It was for commercial art and illustration. In 1970, when I decided to learn to paint I was on my own. There was nothing available in the way of classes around here back then. So I just painted. After about twenty years I was able to take a few workshops from professional artists, but brush mileage has been my best teacher. I currently work out of my home studio outside of Cambridge MN. My paintings have been reproduced on holiday cards, prints, and clothing. My fine art oils have won many awards and are in private collections through out the US and abroad. So take that Fosdick!

Artist statement

A favorite subject of mine is horses. I grew up with them and went on to raise and train my own. I have sketched and observed them so much that I can now draw them without using any references. I love to paint Appaloosa's and the American paint horse.  Their spot patterns are so much fun to do. I like to portray horses as strong, beautiful, wild, free spirits.

I also enjoy painting still life and have been told that still life is my forte. I paint objects I've collected over the years, marbles, animal skulls, figurines, anything that intrigued me or looked fun to paint. I tend to like out of the ordinary subjects. My work may be humorous, mysterious, spooky or weird. My style is realistic. I often used bright colors and strong contrasts. I prefer oils, love the way they blend and can be worked on for days!