Spring Green

Winter is not my favorite month. But there are things to love about Winter: my birthday is right in the middle of it, the kids get 2 or 3 weeks school holidays and I love hearing the sound of rain as long as I am snuggly warm inside. Mostly, I get through Winter by counting down the weeks until Spring and searching online for Spring flowers to inspire me. When I lived in Japan, the change in seasons was a lot more apparent and after the cold, stark Winter, it was lovely to see the rich colour green of the leaves and plants return to the landscape.

This original artwork, ‘Spring Green’, was painted in the Winter of June 2019. I drew up a series of 3 images of flowers in vases but this is the only painting I completed (perhaps as it took almost 4 weeks to finish!) At first I wanted to experiment with being more expressive with my brush strokes but eventually, the neatness crept back in and the clean lines returned to the leaves and flower outlines. Painting flowers gives me a chance to hold on to the bright colours and warmth of the Spring months. Flowers always feel cheerful and hopeful of brighter days ahead.

This is an original acrylic on canvas painting.

Painting measures 61 x 76 x 4cm.

Canvas edges are painted and the back has d-hooks and string attached ready to hang.

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Claire Ishino studied Jewellery Design (and a year of Graphics) at the University of South Australia. After graduating, she worked as a designer and sales consultant in the jewellery industry before traveling to Japan to teach English for a year. One year in Japan soon extended to eight years and, during that time, she created a range of colourful washi paper and silver jewellery that was exhibited and sold across Japan from Osaka to Tokyo. After becoming a mum, her focus shifted away from jewellery towards 2-dimensional art works and she has continued on this pathway ever since as she loves the ability to introduce so many colours into her designs.

Claire works from her home-studio in Adelaide producing original gouache or acrylic paintings and black and white ink drawings as well as Limited Edition archival reproductions of the original art works printed on Hahnemuhle Bamboo paper. Her work is inspired by Australian natives and other botanic forms, thoughts, emotions and her love of colour, repetition and pattern; she often uses flowers and leaves as visual metaphors to express thoughts and words or to convey messages. Her style is clean and graphic with crisp edges between colours and small details reflective of her background in jewellery. She draws and paints almost every day and strives to create joyful pieces of work that lift your spirits and fill your home and heart with happiness.

Claire exhibits and sells her work through local shops and galleries and enjoys popping up at design events. Her work is licensed to Earth Greetings for use on stationery and greeting cards and her illustrations appear on the the 23rd Street Distillery Signature Gin and Jim Barry's Annabelle's Rose labels. Claire's work has also been applied to packaging and products for Dusk Australia and Jurlique International.