Claire

 Wiltsher

    
   

Last updated 01/07/2011

   
       

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Claire Wiltsher was born in Wales. She studied at Lancashire University as a mature student (1986-89).  In 1988 she was a finalist in the Readers Digest young  illustrators competition, and already had secured exhibitions before finishing her degree. Not long after her degree Claire was in a touring exhibition with the Ikon Gallery Birmingham, 'titled symbolism' and also had a one person show at Durham museum and gallery where most of the work was sold. She trained as a Lecturer in Art, and while teaching in Durham completed her MA at Northumbria University in Fine Art (1999).

Winter snowstorm (New Forest)  2010 ROSEMARY & CO ART AWARD winning painting Society of Women Artists

Claire has been selected in many competitions. The art critic Edward-Lucie Smith chose her work to be exhibited at Olympia at an International Fair. Most of the work was sold allowing her to embark upon a new journey travelling to Indonesia. More recently she received an Award at the Mall Galleries London for her painting “Winter snowstorm” which was displayed in an annual exhibition for the Society of Women Artists.

Princess Michael of Kent presented the “Rosemary & Co Award”. Her work was selected for the Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition at the Mall Galleries October 2010. Her work is currently displayed in many galleries including the Osborne Gallery, Mayfair, London, Artwavewest, in Bridport, and as far north as Northumbria, in the Old School House Gallery. Her work is also represented in many local galleries near her studio at Lyndhurst in the New Forest.

In 2009 Claire embarked upon a new life in Hampshire, and has developed a new body of work based on the New Forest, Isle of Wight, and the Dorset coast.  

Sea Journal (Isle of Wight)

Since her move she has been involved in a number of solo shows including the Arthouse gallery Bournemouth, Coastal Gallery Lymington as well as the Lyndhurst museum and Art Centre. Claire Wiltsher has gained a wealth of exhibiting experience nationally alongside her 20 years teaching and co-ordinating various art programmes.

 

Outdoor walking and travelling are the main inspirations for her work.

Studio gallery

The majority of her canvases are square which she feels is important in creating a balance and harmony in her paintings. The work has ambiguous elements; however the work shows strong structural compositions. She feels that “total recognition inhibits the imagination”

Her oil and mixed media canvases combine layers of paint with fragments of collage. She scratches through sections of the painting to allow colours from underneath to emerge. “I want to create evocative paintings of land and sea that show a sense of place, different weather conditions are key elements”   Claire uses brushes and different size palette knives to build up layers and create depth. Paint is also flicked or carefully thrown on selected areas, evidence of this can be found all over her studio floor.

Claire Wiltsher QUALIFICATIONS
1997 - 1999 MA Fine Art, Painting - Northumbria University (Part-time).
1990 - 1991 Postgraduate Certificate in Further Education (Art & Design) Thames University.
1995-1996 Writers News home study course in creative writing. Finalist, first voice, Radio 4. Short story selected.
1986 - 1989 BA (Hon’s) Fine Art, Painting - Lancashire University.
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Poems often accompany Claire's work and can help communicate specific ideas.

Thames Pathway
Shapes change, metamorphosis
Monsters from the Jurassic form in trees,
Blink again, figures dance.
Phosphorous leaves rustle in acid sunlight
Threaded on bare fractured twigs,
Through the air they take flight, like confetti.

Thames Pathway

Thames Pathway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   
         © 2011 Claire Wiltsher