August 30, 2007
Contemporary Cubist Painter, Stephanie Clair
Contemporary Cubist Painter, Stephanie Clair will appear at Allure, a Galleria of Fine Art, on Thursday, August 30th from 4:00 to 7:00pm. Visit with San Diego California’s romantically styled cubist painter for her only New England appearance of the year. Color, technique, imagination, and cubism meant to evoke mystery and emotion….Clair’s art captures a feeling and challenges the viewer’s eye and mind, as you get lost in a three-dimensional world of people passion and beauty.
I left my Washington childhood behind and moved to upstate New York. The world quickly changed as I bumped up against a colder, unfamiliar environment. Surrounded by farms with horses, green rolling hills, and ice cold winters, I soon learned that the East Coast was still magical, but just in a different way. My teen years were filled with "dream drawing"--capturing and releasing my vision of the world onto paper. This process allowed me to rub up against the world in this profound way and to feel the world rub back. My drawing and illustrating continued on throughout high school where I even managed to get a part-time job as an illustrator for a local newspaper. When I graduated, I took a few college-level drawing and painting classes, but I stopped because I could hear society telling me that I couldn't get a job as a full-time artist. At that time, I listened--not to peaceful whispers of the forests or the colors that sparkled therein, but to the roar of doubt that had crept inside.
When I was 21, I moved to Virginia to escape the harsh winters and to feed my growing desire for travel and exploration. I took a job in sales and quickly found financial success, but I was unsatisfied. Something deep inside of me still yearned to create, to express, and to rediscover the dreamworlds of my childhood. So, I made the decision to listen to the desire within me and began following my lifelong dream. As long as I was able to do what I loved, the money just didn't matter. I dropped everything and went to college at Old Dominion University where I graduated with a fine arts degree in Design with an Emphasis in Painting. I found that as I began to listen, I also began to really see. It was during my time at Old Dominion that Painting revealed herself to me; showed herself to be the perfect medium for my artistry, for my vision. Painting allows me to touch and share the deepest parts of myself in the truest way. As I explore the world--seeing more and more of what this magical world beholds--my experience grows and so too my vision. I feel blessed to be able to paint for a living and feel privileged beyond words to be able to share my paintings with others.
After successful art shows in Virginia, I made up my mind to become a full-time artist and decided to set out across the country. I journeyed to the enchanted city of San Francisco, but decided San Diego's slower paced, sun-drenched character was much more true to who I was. I have since won national art contests and have been published in magazines. And, whereas my originals have been shown and hung in galleries around the country and collected worldwide, I constantly am seeking--along the inner roads of Self as well as those that cross our lands--to experience different cultures and to gather inspiration to express in my paintings. Current influences in my work include Picasso, Matisse, Dali, Chagall, Van Gogh, Kandinski to name a few, hence the bright colors, dreamy landscapes, and cubist perspectives. I love experimenting with color, creating luminous, multi-layered works that welcomes the viewer into a world of magical beauty and feeling. Experimentation fuels my soul and muses my brush.
Browse works by Stephanie Clair »»
Allure is located at 125 Turnpike Rd. (Rt. 9 W). Westborough, MA (1/2 mile west from the Naked Fish). This Art Exhibition is free and open to the public. It will feature her original works of art as well as limited edition, hand-embellished Giclées.
