Welcome to the Studio

Dear friends,

Clara here - artist-at-large behind Whirling River Studio. Welcome to our very first studio blog!

I want this blog to be an open invitation to conversation about creating and art. In the spirit of creating value for you, dear friend, I had asked my Instagram community for questions they may have about me or the Studio. Because this is our first meeting here, this post is going to be a bit more of a reflection and introduction to me and how Whirling River Studio came to be. 

Writing about my art is uncomfortable - so much of the art that I create is centred on creating an external representation to feelings and thoughts that I am struggling to say out loud. In that respect, aspects of writing this blog feels like sharing piles of laundry with the world.

How I came to art originally was as a means of doing something for myself that felt good after becoming a parent. As life unfolded over the course of the last three years, art became my means of processing my internal reality without having to justify myself to anyone. Throughout being unhoused and at the mercy of the world (it seemed), art was my tiny rebellion; an outlet for the screaming going on inside. It's an outlet that a hope to provide my tiny human with as they move through this world.

The journey from identifying as someone who did art to seeing myself as an artist truly started in November 2021. After two years of indulging in an art habit, I saw that an artist within my Instagram community was offering to host a virtual 'coffee date' with other artists. Despite my misgivings about what I could contribute to the conversation, I signed up to participate. As I sat on that call taking pages of notes and listening to this talented and diverse group of folks - I began to understand that I was enough to bring to the table. By the end of that conversation (I now realize), I was at a place to challenge myself and my art. Incidentally, I also continue to connect with these artists and support their work to this day.

That coffee date led to opening myself up to other opportunities I found, which led to being part of my first exhibition with Free Spirit Gallery and Studio on Gabriola Island in April 2022 - where some of my original pieces are still available for purchase.

In so many ways, this is a journey that is still in it's beginning phase. I look forward to sharing the road ahead with you.

Stay safe. Make things.

Clara xo