Artist Biography
Claire Livingston developed an interest in art and fashion very early on. She took all the drawing and painting classes available and learned to sew from her grandmother. She decided to pursue two degrees in both Studio Arts and Costume Design at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles. Completing these two majors created a unique skill set with foundations in figure drawing and design.
After working as a costume designer for several film and theatrical productions, Claire decided to focus on fine art painting in order to have more freedom in her creativity. After three years of studying traditional methods of drawing and painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, she developed a newfound appreciation for craftsmanship and the breadth of textural variety that oil painting can offer.
From Da Vinci and Raphael to Anders Zorn and Ilya Repin, Claire admires painters who are first and foremost storytellers, but who are also masters of technique. Claire’s work ranges from small detail studies to large, life-size figurative work. She works primarily from life, enjoying the spontaneity and variety that comes from collaborating with another person. Claire is currently
living and working in San Diego, California. She is accepting portrait commissions and using the Southern and Central coastal regions of California as sources of artistic inspiration.
Artist Statement
I have always been most drawn to artwork with which I can empathize. Often this response comes from recognizing a relationship between subjects or between subject and viewer. In my work I am always looking for a relationship that the viewer will identify with. I often work with a figurative subject matter, looking for symbolic and story-telling elements that describe connections such as friendship, dependence, loss, and co-existence. Even in non-figurative work such as landscape, paths through the woods or a bridge across a river suggest the presence of human interaction. I seek to express these relationships in paintings with a visual quality that allows the viewer to forget they are looking at a two-dimensional image and feel the physical and psychological presence of the subject.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2017 Certificate in Drawing and Painting, The Florence Academy of Art
Florence, Italy and Jersey City, NJ, U.S.A.
2013 BA in both Studio Art & Theatre Design, Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, California. Graduated Cum Laude.
Exhibition Record
2021 Art on the Terrace, Juried Show
Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
2021 Letting us In, Juried Show
The Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2019 47th Annual Works on Paper, Juried Show
Brand Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Annual Show, Juried Show
Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
2018 FAA Alumni Atelier Fine Arts Show
Downtown 234 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ
2017 Year End Show, Juried Show
Florence Academy of Art. Florence, Italy
2013 Drawing Circus, Juried Show, Burns 217 Gallery
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
2012 29th Annual Juried Show, Laband Art Gallery
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
Awards
2019 Finalist, 14th ARC Salon: International Realism, Juried
2018 Finalist, 13th ARC Salon: International Realism, Juried
2013 Second Place, Drawing Circus, Juried Show, Burns 217 Gallery
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA