Claire Whitman
Claire
worked as an Interior Architect in London, after graduating from Brighton
with a First Class BA (Hons) in 1986, always with a passion for colour
and shape.
Spending as much time as possible in Dorset, walking, riding
and boating around the Purbeck coast inspired her to start painting. Becoming
a mother and giving up working full time as a designer gave her the opportunity
to study painting, she completed a 2 year a postgraduate Professional
Development in painting in 2003. She now divides her time between London
and Dorset, but it is by the sea that she feels most creative and alive,
"the dramatic coastal landscape constantly changes with the seasons colours, textures, light and sea. This is the place which really feeds my soul and I aim to convey that simple 'joie de vivre' through my paintings, to express the space, height and movement one feels when walking along the cliffs next to the sea. To try to evoke that sense of freedom that a bird must experience, when swooping over the landscape."