Paintings and Sculptures

 

Born in Glasgow 1961, Clare moved to Argyll in 1995. She has no formal training in visual arts preferring, by necessity, to glean practical knowledge from many generous artists. Aesthetic inspiration comes from the Scottish Colourists and many others. At a theoretical level, she seeks inspiration from the masters – Rodin wrote of art “It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which Nature herself is animated.” Clare practices this pleasure and, hopefully, this is evident in the finished work. She draws from a background in Philosophy, English Literature and Logic. These together with an interest in Human Consciousness and Language are all significant to her and find quarters in her art  

 

She paints with oil on canvas and is currently exploring string washed up on Argyll beaches as a new modern material for sculpture. She regards this dull, undistinguished stuff with the same professional attention as the ancient colorman grinding the lapis rock to release the essential pigment. Her paintings and sculptures are often figurative. For her, the coloured string of the sculpture and the coloured oils of the painting demand the same discipline and often a struggle with one art form will bring about fulfillment in the other.

 

“It is always my ambition to recreate an energy within my work drawn from women and their movement. Nothing finds its way onto the canvas or into the sculpture without first passing through this very particular consciousness. - where fragments disturb the bright coloured paint , and invest the empty spaces” Clare McNiven

 

Her paintings and sculptures are in private collections and

She regularly exhibits in Argyll.

Email  scotland.art@gmail.com