Statement about the artist (Green Again Exhibition 2007)

Claire has always loved the challenge of painting.
She particularly delights in unlocking the technique required to capture her subject.
Whether it’s painting tropical foliage, which is her current fascination and forms the bulk of this exhibition called “Green again”, or seascapes, skies, birds, portraits, pastoral scenes or stained glass re-creations, – which won her such acclaim in the past – her quest is always with the creation of the work itself, rather than the end result.
It is this pursuit of perfection that drives her work; the flash in the forest which has to be captured.
For her, Art -the best Art- is more about perspiration than inspiration.
Which is fortunate for us because whilst she is chasing perfection, the paintings roll off the easel in a steady stream.
“Green again” is a selection of paintings from the nearly two hundred she has completed on this theme during the past five years.
The series is a work in progress and art appreciators with the keenest eye will be able to pick up the evolution without checking the dates.
Being close to the source of production, I can tell you that she feels she still hasn’t captured ‘it’.
Which means we may have “Green again, again” in the near future.
I hope so, because I love this series and feel sure you will too.
Chris Souter, April 2007

More Background info...

Claire Souter moved to Cairns with her husband in 2002, having already established herself as an artist in the south, exhibiting her work widely over the last 20 years.
She has held a solo exhibition every year since 1989, been involved in a number of group exhibitions, and has received numerous awards for her work. She has also lectured in visual arts at TAFE for many years.
In the catalogue essay for her survey exhibition in 2001, Justine van Mourik spoke of her..."enthusiasm for, and awe of, nature... her idealisation of reality, emphasis on the picturesque and Gothic, love of nostalgia and mystery, and flair for the dramatic."

Claire Souter Gallery in Kuranda is a gallery of Claire's original oil and watercolour paintings. When visiting Kuranda you must see these paintings for yourself to appreciate the true depth and quality of her work.
Claire's paintings and exhibitions are a continual reflection of her personal life which has involved family life (3 children), women's issues, spiritual themes and a close observance of the natural world.

Claire's Unique Natural Style

Claire has developed her own unique and natural style of painting over the years. Claire's style involves doing a very accurate drawing in charcoal on handmade paper. This handmade paper was developed in Mount Gambier by colleague Kevin Smibert. The drawing is then worked on with turps and waterbased white paint, which becomes the base for many layers of glazes in oil paint.This is followed by some detailed rendering in oil paint, retaining the drawing in varying degrees in different works.

Promising Beginnings

Claire was born in Toowoomba Queensland in 1950, but grew up in the mallee scrub outside of Dimboola in rural Victoria. She was the daughter of a Lutheran Pastor. The story of her artistic growth is quite interesting.
In her teens the family moved to Adelaide. During this time she was a pupil of the highly regarded Adelaide artist and teacher Ruth Tuck. Her talent as an artist did not take long to be recognised, and for three consecutive years she won the Nehru Gold Medal (India) in the Shankars International Children's art competition. This was the beginning of Claire's love of painting. Claire describes in her own words how she came to love painting as a teenager, under the guidance of Ruth...

"I rode my bike after school to 343 Fullarton Road, to a little old bungalow overgrown with rambling shrubs and flowers on the outside and overcrowded with bursting laugh-speak girls in College uniforms on the inside. In the two small rooms that made up the kitchen were crammed tables and chairs and benches covered with paint palettes, craypas, water jars and large brushes, and, of course, paintings on paper. There were flowers in jars, twigs, branches, shells, reproductions of Matisse paintings, kitchen equipment and utensils, shoes, school bags, fruit, Picasso prints, and the paintings. It was all moving around interwoven and interactive so that there was no distinguishing between what was used for cooking or eating or living and what was used for painting. The small rooms were overflowing with colour, light, life, noise, water and paint - and paintings.

Ruth was at the centre of it all - never pushing, never correcting, sometimes speaking with me, just letting me sit in on this amazing other world I had discovered. Letting me show her my paintings and drawings, showing us her work and showing us how it works. I don't mean how the techniques work (although she would show us this, but only as if in passing) but how the act of painting works - how it works in life, how life flows in the act of painting. The life in those rooms flowed in with the life in the paintings."

Return to painting

Instead of art school, Claire opted to study for a degree in Humanities and Art History at Flinders University. Claire continued to draw and paint throughout her studies. After university Claire married Chris Souter, which was followed by the birth of three children, Nick, Carmel and Anna. With university over and a new family on the way, Chris and Claire decided to move to the country and raise their kids in a country area.
From a small farm at Monarto, to a small flat at Murray Bridge, they eventually settled in Mount Gambier in 1981, a clean and green town of about 25,000 people in the South East of South Australia. This was to be the family's home for the next 20 years, and as soon as the kids had grown up to more manageable ages, Claire wasted no time in getting the paints out again. Claire gives us a personal account of her return to painting...

"In our family it was sport that had top priority. After all, we were each of us quite adept at it. Healthy activities kept our family together. I was the one who started to look for gaps in our time together. Gaps in time where I could sneak off on my own and investigate art. There had been no gaps for a while - bringing up 3 kids. And there was always the sport. But gradually some gaps started to appear. Needless to say I was straight onto them and had them filled up in a flash. As soon as I was not needed for something I replaced that space created with my renewed interest in art.

Claire's Work Today

The move to Far North Queensland has allowed Claire the freedom to explore a whole new variety of colours and landscapes. Claire's work today reflects on a lifetime dedicated to the arts. She has come the full circle with her career and is producing quality work displaying a great depth and imagination that can only come from the mind of an experienced painter.

A visit to Claire Souter Gallery in Kuranda is a visit to see a special artist and her paintings.

(Nick Souter 2003)