We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Claire Madden. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Claire below.
Claire, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Life and its challenges, a journey of ups and downs. I feel my creativity is part of my Whole being and has determined who I am despite many times wanting to be someone else. Its in all aspects of my daily life even down to shopping, being seduced by aesthetically pleasing packaging and visualizing how it will look in my cupboard. Not that I am considered in any way as being the most organised being, just look in my handbag ir vestaire at work!
I feel creativity is keeping your eyes wide open, take everything in, continuously looking. The less you have is a great stimulant for looking outside the box. It makes one more creative in finding solutions, not just in the art domain but in everyday life. I am from a family of academic brothers and artistic sisters. My sister studied fashion design and myself Fine Art, I worked as a costumer for a while over one summer then I became an Art consultant for an independent Art Dealer. Travel and visiting Art exhibitions was daily life.
Once I started a family motives changed , wanting to be at home. I was lucky enough to obtain a job in the Tate Gallery education department. This was a wonderful post as working for a reputable international Gallery I saw a longterm future in the Arts.
However after some years I gave it all up to Relocate my family of 3 small children to rural France.
In retrospect I now can see that my husband was extremely jealous of me and continuously put me down, my self esteem suffered enormously (we divorced shortly after moving..another story)
However I continued to paint, maybe its what saved me from a total meltdown.
Self discipline or maybe it’s my natural way of being. A form of self expression, the same as how I dress my house, how I style myself and how I create a meal for friends from what I can find in the back of my cupboard. Creativity is all around me and I can see I have heavily influenced my son who creates upcycled clothes and is moving into funky upholstery.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Since moving myself and 3 children to France my career path has to take a new route. New language to be able to integrate into life here and needing to make money to support my family. The divorce was not simple but life moves on and one moves with it. We were here and here to stay, there was no option to move back to the Uk. It was frightening but exciting at the same time , one loves a challenge. I was able to secure some exhibitions here in France and return to London to exhibit.
I was producing large colorful works on canvas in this period. A turning point in my style changed when my close friend from college who studied fashion encouraged me to create fashion illustrations, it was the trendy thing to do and there was a growing market.
And I love it. I love fashion and style and I love to draw, the perfect love match.
Keeping abreast of trends and styles in fashion, art , interior design is my passion.
I exhibit regularly here in France , I make cards and prints which are sold here and the UK through my personal contacts.
I take on commissions and I am grateful to all who have bought of shown interest in my Art.
In addition I work part time in a fashion clothes shop, not far from my home. I have clients that come in to be styled by me and its also a great social network for me.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I havent mentioned my childhood but I think it has made me strong as I always to think and make decisions on my own. (look outside the box, take risks , stay positive and be open to try new things. There are and have been many times of self doubt and sinI would say to just never give up..create and create and create primarily for yourself , self pleasure and if others like it, love it then you are on to a winner.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is someone who appreciates my work, my style, the finished product and who would want to invest as a patron for me to explore and create on a larger scale or with other materials..
Contact Info:
- Instagram: clairemadden.art
- Linkedin: Claire Madden
Image Credits
I am an illustrator, my works are influenced by the designer so i will credit their names @schiaparelli @pucci @etro @loewe
