Claire Parrish

Acrylic, Ink, Pastels, and Collage.
Claire began her creative journey in the performing arts. At a young age, she knew she would never play sports or join the chess team, Claire was a fierce creative who dove into every avenue of creativity possible. First finding her voice through singing and dance, she ventured into acting and guitar to fulfil creative itch. The desire to be on stage only blossomed as Claire embarked on her collegiate journey as an acting major. During her time at university, Claire was drawn to the movement heavy classes where the focus was on creating emotion and story through the movement of our bodies and breath. This curiosity in the unspoken took ahold of her and she began to explore the visual arts for the first time. Claire Received her BFA in acting in 2019 and took the leap to explore what it would look like to be a visual artist. The knowledge of performing arts informed her practice now and allowed her to understand the creative process from a professional prospective and to bring her passion for movement into a different medium. Since graduating, Claire has shown at numerous art fairs throughout the south and western Washington, opened an online platform, and has had exhibitions in Georgetown and Seattle with the West Seattle Art Walk.

Three questions on inspiration with

Claire Parrish

  • Describe an object that has inspired you
    Walking along a pebble beach in the west coast is something indescribable. The sheer number of rocks that sit below our feet, all looking grey and dull at first glance, but they illuminate with color when you take a closer look. I have spent a lot of time studying the shape and naturally occurring colors in the rocks of the west coast.
  • Describe a place that has inspired you
    Recently, I have drawn most of my artistic inspiration from the elements. During the process of creating the "Come to the Water" collection, I liked to describe my practice as a partnership with the elements: we were working together to create the final image. The multitude of alpine lakes in Western Washington or the vast beauty that lies within the coast is where I drew my inspiration this summer. Moving from Mississippi, I had never been around such extravagantly beautiful bodies of water and I felt a calling to explore what water means to me at this stage of my life.
  • Describe a person that has inspired you
    The most notable person that has inspired my work so far would have to be Emily Jeffords. Hearing Emily's struggling being an emerging artist made me feel less alone and way more determined. Emily inspired me to push past the self doubt and second guessing and create. I may not have continued in my artistic career if it was not for Emily's story.
  • Unearth more inspirational people, places and objects