Warwickshire artist fulfills her dream

The mother-of-two, who regularly exhibits and sells at the Leamington Contemporary Arts Fair, loved colouring and painting as a child and went on to complete a graphics design degree.

Her first job was in Leamington as a Kitchen textiles designer - and among her products were numerous animal-shaped oven gloves and sea creature bathmats. After four years, Claire left to become a freelance illustrator and artist.

She now lives in Stratford with her husband and two daughters and divides her time between creating images for licensing and illustrating books for children. Past designs have appeared on toys, textiles, greetings cards and Christmas decorations - and in the past few years, Claire has been painting large canvases, drawing on the British landscape for inspiration.

To see more of Claire’s work, visit www.clairehenleyart.co.uk

The next Leamington Contemporary Arts fair takes place in Livery Street, Leamington, on Saturday November 24 from 10am to 5pm.