I paint contemporary landscapes. The studies I make in the field become the basis of paintings I develop in the studio. Composition becomes stronger; details fall away; brushwork becomes open and loose. What remains becomes a transition between representation and abstraction, an arrangement of form and color that offers a fresh encounter with the familiar. The gestural is still evident in my painting, a suggestion that the paint itself may be the actual subject matter. As such, each painting becomes its own story, engaging the viewer in a unique conversation.

BIO

Claire Haag was born in San Francisco. Raised in the City, she discovered Howard Brodie’s illustrations in the sports pages of the San Francisco Chronicle. She found the energy in these gesture drawings more powerful, more authentic, than photographs. So began a fascination with art that would eventually lead to studio classes with Jerry Concha and John DiPaolo at San Francisco’s DeYoung Museum. She exhibited at the cooperative gallery of San Francisco Women Artists, and for a short time taught graphic design and off-set printing for the San Francisco Community College District. Her landscape work began much later, following a move to Yolo County in rural Northern California. She lives and works in Esparto, California.