I prefer to be out where I paint, feeling the movement in the space and interpreting this with oil and cold wax, with my fingers and various tools, traditional and improvised, sometimes picking up sand from the beach and mixing it in. Life rarely comes through enough if I use photographs so I go with the weather and tides, bundled up against the cold and sheltering from the wind in nooks, or barefoot in the water and sweltering in the sun on those rare days. At the end of the day I bring the painting home and continue outside if I can, or in my attic studio if I can’t, allowing a few weeks to add finishing touches, preferring to continue from memory or by holding on to a feeling from those moments.

I don’t work in any one style, my plein air work changes with the changing moods of the days and seasons so that each painting is a unique response to my surroundings. When the weather is too hostile I paint from what’s inside me, again interpreting a mood with no restrictions in style, naturally evolving a range of finished work. I hope people come to my paintings with emotion and find a strong sense of place. Everything moves, so I try to capture that as I bring in the music of sea and the breeze.

I grew up in the unusual setting of Whiteway Colony, studied art at Stroud College and then obtained first class honours in Illustration at the University of Wales Swansea College of Art. I have worked full time as a freelance illustrator, and more recently fine artist, since 2008. I usually walk or cycle out to the locations from where I live in a little wooden chalet on Gower with my husband and stepson.

I use only top quality oil paints, most of which are handmade in South Wales by Michael Harding. These are mixed with cold wax medium (beeswax, damar and linseed oil), and various other dry mediums such as pure pigment, opening up a range of interesting and expressive techniques. I varnish with a coat of wax for a soft, velvety, protective finish. I sell my paintings from Oriel Mimosa in Llandeilo and Tides Fine Art in Mumbles as well as from my home studio.

About the artist - Brochure entry: Claire prefers to be out where she paints, feeling the movement in the space and interpreting this with oil paint and cold wax, with her fingers and various tools, traditional and improvised, sometimes picking up sand from the beach and mixing it in. Claire does not work in any one way, as the work changes with the moods and weather of the day in front of her, as a response to the unique setting each time, but she feels there is a thread that defines her work, of a sense of place and emotion in the wide space in which she paints.