Claire Leach (1988) is an artist based in Hampshire, U.K. Claire graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art: Painting and Drawing from the University of Gloucestershire in 2010. In 2014 Claire completed an MA degree at Winchester School of Art, graduating with merit.
“My art practice encompasses drawing and painting. I’m most inspired by landscape and nature with a particular focus on woodland. Walking in forests and being surrounded by trees has always been a contradictory experience for me, I crave the stillness of the woods and the quiet of nature and yet an expansive forest environment can also feel quite foreboding, as if something sinister could be lurking out of sight. In my drawings I'm seeking to represent woodland landscapes, my particular focus is on the light and dark, texture and detail. How woodlands are magical, beautiful, isolating and lonely places all at once. I utilise a process of layering ink and water, allowing the ink to create marks and textures which become integral to the work. I scrub away at the drawing and then use a fine brush to draw in branches, leaves and tiny twigs. The scale is purposefully small, to draw the viewer in and to create an intimacy. Some drawings are miniature in size, reminiscent of collectible playing cards, each offering their own woodland impression.”
Claire’s artist inspirations include Monet and the Impressionists, the drawings of Van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer, David Hockney, Peter Doig, Cy Twombly, Tacita Dean, Emma Stibbon and Norman Ackroyd.
Education
2013 - 2014 - MA Fine Art, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton
2007 - 2010 - BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting and Drawing), University of Gloucestershire
Exhibitions
2025
Christmas Open Studios, Project Workshops, Quarley, Hampshire
Miniature Masters, Canal Boat Contemporary, London
Wiltshire Artists Annual Exhibition, St Peter’s Church, Marlborough, Wiltshire
Open Studios, Project Workshops, Quarley, Hampshire
Summer Exhibition, Talos Art Gallery, Calne, Wiltshire
Works on Paper 7, Blue Shop Gallery, London
Bristol and Clifton Golf Club Private Members Art Fair, Bristol
2024
Open Studios, Project Workshops, Quarley, Hampshire
Wiltshire Artists Annual Exhibition, St Peter’s Church, Marlborough, Wiltshire
Among the Trees, The Merchant’s House, Marlborough, Wiltshire
Summer Exhibition, Talos Art Gallery, Calne, Wiltshire
2023
From River to Forest, The Sanctuary Gallery, Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire
Wiltshire Artists Annual Exhibition, St Peter’s Church, Marlborough, Wiltshire
Highworth Art and Literature Festival, St Michael’s Church, Highworth, Wiltshire
2022
Wiltshire Artists Annual Exhibition, St Peter’s Church, Marlborough, Wiltshire
Danebury Past and Present Footsteps, Andover Museum, Hampshire
2021
Art Alchemy, Chalk’s Gallery, Lymington, Hampshire
2019
Synergy, The Sheep Shed Gallery, Hampshire
Where Flowers Bloom, The Sheep Shed Gallery, Hampshire
The Arborealists and Guests: The Art of The Tree, The Turbine House, Berkshire
2018
From the Road, The Sheep Shed Gallery, Hampshire
O Simple Nature, The Sheep Shed Gallery, Hampshire
2015
Making A Mark, Proteus Creation Space, Hampshire
2014
Drawing Matters, The Sheep Shed Gallery, Hampshire
Mottisfont Open Exhibition, Mottisfont, Hampshire
MA Final Exhibition, Winchester School of Art, Hampshire
Solent Summer Salon, Mettricks, Hampshire
Tabula Rasa, Bargehouse, London
All Our Own Work, Festival Place, Hampshire
A Sequence of Events, Winchester Gallery, Hampshire
C.I.T.E MA Fine Art Interim Exhibition, Winchester School of Art, Hampshire
2011
Women in the Arts Exhibition, Fairfields Art Centre, Hampshire
2010
Pittville Degree Show, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire
Basingstoke Library Exhibition, Hampshire
2009
Obsession for Reflection, Hampshire
Women in the Arts Exhibition, Fairfields Art Centre, Hampshire
Press and Features
Interview with Fleur and Arbor
Let's Explore Magazine Issue 01: Crossroads
Awards
One of five finalists in the Signature Art Prize Drawing and Printmaking Category 2015
Testimonials
“Claire's work is ethereal and utterly beautiful. Her renditions of woodland are so intricate it seems as though you can hear every hoverfly and the rustling of every leaf. Her drawings would bring calm to any living space...” Emma Mitchell, author of Making Winter and The Wild Remedy