Clare Roper-Paris

I love living in Cornwall. I spent most of my childhood here and it's in my bones. Living on the Cornish side of the Tamar valley there is a wealth of inspiration for me to draw upon both from nature, our Celtic history and mythical tradition. Having had a deep affinity with nature, animals, spirituality, myth and legend for most of my life, I take the inspiration for my art from all of these. I've long been drawn to Celtic tradition and history and in 2009 after being amazed by books such as the Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels, began to learn how to draw Celtic knotwork. I love to explore and combine the intricacy of Celtic knotwork with landscapes and the natural world. I also enjoy incorporating into my work the creatures who are both native to Britain and prominent in Celtic myth and tradition. These days I like to either paint pure Celtic design combining this with Celtic traditional elements or experiment by combining the Cornish landscape with the animals of myth and the Celtic tradition. Most of the time I cant resist weaving in some Celtic knotwork somewhere in my art... Ethically all the frames that I use are made using either re-purposed wood or from timber that has naturally fallen on pour land, by my husband.