Press Release – Claire Woolhead
Claire Woolhead is an English artist who uses automotive paint to create dramatic and vivid pieces showcasing life’s inner beauty. Drawing inspiration from many sources, such as her travels, the human mind, and science. She explained: I am fascinated by science, the potential of the mind, nature and the meaning of life which influences my work although inspiration can come from many different avenues. I try to capture the incredible, complicated beauty this universe has to offer.”
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Techniques & Processes Used
When discussing her techniques for creating sculptures, she said her processes allow her to use a wide variety of shades and colours when producing her artwork. For creating sculptures Claire uses metal as her primary material, before involving colour at the final stage of her design. She explained: “I like working with metal as a substrate as well as giving items or objects a new lease of life, especially when creating sculptures of any size. The process of each project can vary as I also collaborate with companies across many industries such as interior design. I can individually mix and colour match over 5,000,000 shades which designers like to utilise when adding art to a particular colour scheme or room.”
Inspirations & Influences
Claire also likes to use her travel experiences to inspire her work, adding: “I recently returned from a trip travelling around Southwest Vietnam and nearby islands which was an amazing experience. The architecture, designs, colours and vibrancy have all certainly stayed with me and have even influenced a recent statement piece that I painted with the idea of a golden dragon in mind.”
Favourite Artworks
While she struggles to choose a favourite project out of her many pieces of artwork and sculptures, she referenced a painting called ‘Urban Beauty’ which draws inspiration from old layers of graffiti found in city architecture. Claire added: “It has symbolic meaning that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it doesn’t matter how much money is in an area, there is always beauty to be found and appreciated.”
Other pieces include the ‘Adamo River’ , a painting of vibrant blue and orange, highlighting the many shades of cyan as the river twists and turns.
Current Projects
Claire’s current projects include a colourful collection for The Brighton Box Art Gallery, and a commission for a ‘statement sculpture’ to be unveiled in late 2023 for a UK development company. She said: “I am very excited as the idea I proposed and how I’m producing the sculpture is something that I’m almost certain has never been seen or done ever before.”
One of Claire’s future projects will include a life size human sculpture made out of metal. She has already created a statement human head piece. Other future work includes collaboration with a UK charity in their fundraising, and a variety of private commission projects.
About Claire Woolhead
Claire Woolhead is a 29-year-old artist based in Bedfordshire, England, with a background working in restoration and paintwork for car and business development.
In 2015, Claire decided to switch career paths and left her job as a Business Development Manager to get trained in car restoration and custom paint for automotive vehicles. She started her own company ‘72 Customs’ three years later, in car restoration and custom paintwork, which inspired her use of automotive paints to create artwork.
Claire credits this business as being where her interest and understanding of automotive paints as art developed, but added that she was always interested in drawing, painting, and sculpting.
Her work is currently exhibited across ten galleries in the UK including:
- The Brighton Box Art Gallery
- No Naked Walls – Guildford, Surrey
- Joseph Read Lighting – Ipswich, Suffolk
She also creates private commissions for businesses and individuals.
She also recently attended the Spring Fair Moda event in Birmingham, and looks forward to attending again.
