Claire Lovell

Claire’s huge excitement as a painter, is derived from her vivid sense of colour in every sphere of life.  Her inspiration comes from the sights and sounds of her morning walks amongst the glorious Welsh hills near her home in Usk, and her travels to the Cornish coast and the summer heat of southern France.   She loves how her surroundings, whether inland or by the sea, are ever shifting, ever changing in mood and tone, texture and light, ‘literally from one minute to the next!’  At times she is almost overawed by how much colour and energy is out there, and thus occasionally feels an urge to simplify, creating large areas of colour…. where she hopes to create a space in which she and the viewer can feel free.   She loves wildlife and is drawn to its tender and fragile aspects… a flock of birds flying over a big blue sea, a group of baby moorhens feeding by a lily pond while her dog sleeps in the foreground.  She also finds inspiration within her kitchen, with the vibrant colours of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers, and various ceramic jugs or pots often being composed into a still life.  

She works mainly in oil, but sometimes uses watercolour to loosen up, or to inspire a larger oil painting.  Like any true artist, she is always striving for something better….never underestimating the complexities of handling paint!  For her, ‘it has a will of its own’ and she is often ‘amazed, sometimes baffled by what happens once the process of painting begins’.