Claire Boyce is a fine artist, writer, actor, songwriter, and performer originally from Boulder, Colorado. Born with an inherent passion for the arts, she studied drawing, painting, and sculpture in Colorado at the Art Student’s League of Denver starting in 2007 – after graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Anthropology and Biology. Claire had the privilege of learning from accomplished artists such as Quang Ho, Daniel Sprick, Molly Davis, Jeff Wenzel, and Yenni Tawahadi.
Her plans were derailed as she underwent the arduous, frustrating process of relearning many skills she had spent years honing, as well as dealing with various additional challenges: the loss of her home, income, and multiple relationships, and the trauma of navigating the dysfunctional Workers Compensation system and dealing with doctors who didn’t care about her health. But her love and passion for art – which had always been a guiding light in her life – was just as important in her healing.
After a few years, Claire had recovered enough to finally make the move from Colorado to New Mexico, a place she had yearned to call home not only because of the inspiring landscapes, enchanting historical charm, bustling creative communities, and unique cultural heritage – but because of something more ethereal, calling her to the Land of Enchantment.
She volunteered as a WOOFER and art teacher on an off-grid farm in Algodones before settling in Santa Fe in July of 2019. After such a remarkable journey of loss and transformation, finally being at “home” in New Mexico felt nothing short of miraculous.
Claire’s artwork integrates her deep and encompassing love for New Mexico and her connection with the soul of the southwest, her classical training at the Art Student’s League, influences from New Mexico painters of the 1920s and 1930s, particularly Ernst Blumenschein, fauvism, abstract art inspired by synesthesia, and, of course, her own unique journey.
Claire is particularly interested in exploring novel lighting situations – sunsets, firelight, streetlights, moonlight – and she has created an innovative process using acrylic underpaintings and oil glazes to create the illusion of illumination in her work. Her paintings bring light and warmth to each home they are displayed in.
Claire has had poetry and prose published in multiple print and online journals, including The Avocet and The Elephant Journal. She was a regular contributor to Plenilune Magazine, where she authored a column entitled “Food for the Soul.” In 2018, Claire published a book of her poetry and drawings called (Love is) the Secret Language of Fools.
Claire’s writing and photography appeared in Shakti Yogi Journal following a trip to a festival in Costa Rica sponsored by the magazine.
Her fine art has been exhibited in juried shows and galleries throughout Colorado and New Mexico, including the Denver Art Museum’s fundraiser for the Friends of Painting and Sculpture (FOPAS), the Denver Art Student’s League Summer Art Market, and Java Joes Coffee in Santa Fe.
Based on her artistic merit, Claire also received a scholarship to attend a painting workshop at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico in 2018. She was the sole recipient of the Boulder County Art Alliance’s 2018 Martha Kate Thomas Grant.