Claire uses photography to explore a sense of the places she visits and the technique of photomontage to create her images. She aims to create a more intense sense of the coast by layering, juxtaposing and editing original photographic imagery to create a new scene. These scenes, although fictitious retain a 'sense' of the place that inspired them. They are surreal in their ambiguous use of space, but sympathetic to the layers of light and texture found along the coastline.
Claire originally studied textile design at the Royal College of Art and worked for a number of years as a knitted textile designer, before starting a family prompted her to change the direction of her work. For the last six years she has been developing a collection of photomontages inspired by the British coastline.
She is drawn to the coast, enjoying the sense of space found at the beaches, harbours, cliffs and promenades where the land meets the sea. She finds inspiration in the ephemera left lying around by fishermen and the weathered exteriors of buildings and objects left open to the elements.
Claire presents her work in the form of limited edition prints, all of which are printed on Hahnemuhle archival paper, with UV resistant inks, both of which exceed museum standards for longevity in a print.