Clare is a visual artist based in Nottinghamshire, UK merrily creating whimsical worlds full of happy characters with mud, colour and nature. Her ceramics and textiles work explores personal stories, snippets of nature and has a strong sense of pattern. Here's a little flavour of some of her creations.

Bird Bath

Charlotte likes to recharge after a long day by having a relaxing dip in her outdoor tub. If she's lucky, a little goldfinch will join her.

Earthenware, nichrome wire and decals

Uppercase, Issue 59

Featured in Issue 59 of Uppercase magazine.

Unfathomable calligraphy and joyful, accidental pattern making is my style. Working with Ceramics and Textiles, inevitably there is a cross over of the language of marks from one medium to another. Hand stitched loops on paper are pressed into the beautifully responsive surface of clay. Subtle, stitched and imprinted textures tell the story of my own style of gestures. I use disregarded items, such a pen lids and broken buttons, in the hope that I can breathe new life into them as mark making tools. Curiosity and experimentation are key. What happens if I stitch this and fold that? How will the edge of a broken paper clip look pressed into freshly rolled clay?

Bright geometric ceramic objects inspired by rainbows

Over the Rainbow exhibition at Unit Twelve

Clare took the idea of rainbows in terms of folklore, colours and shapes and reimagined them as joyful mixed media tools for locating rainbows and discovering the elusive pot of gold that is said to be at the bottom of its arc. Distinctive arched shapes and vibrant colours reference the popular notion of rainbows.

Clare’s set of imaginative objects created for ‘Over the Rainbow’ uses forms that are totally abstract yet constructed in such a way as to suggest familiar shapes and colours.

In this wall mounted piece, the left hand device is for blowing bubbles, thus creating instant, mini rainbows. The right hand device is for spotting rainbows.

Earthenware, decals, coated wire, driftwood (Sandsend), polymer clay, felted wool, fishing rope (Withernsea)

Uppercase, Issue 54

Featured in Uppercase magazine.

‘Distilling Rainbows’ takes the idea of rainbows in terms of folklore, colours and shapes and reimagines them as joyful mixed media tools for locating rainbows and discovering the elusive pot of gold that is said to be at the bottom of its arc. Distinctive arched shapes and vibrant colours reference the popular notion of rainbows.
My set of imaginative objects created for ‘Distilling Rainbows’ uses forms that are totally abstract yet constructed in such a way as to suggest familiar shapes and colours.

Home Cooked Heritage - series of 70 tea towels

Lead Artist for an Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries 'Home Cooked Heritage' project which aimed to promote the Nottingham archives. Inspiration was taken from an 18th century ledger from a well-known local stately home, Rufford Park, which detailed all the items bought during that era (akin to a future generation 300 years down the line looking at items on our Tesco bill!). Clare's role was to design, create and curate a touring exhibition of no fewer than 70 tea towels to help tell the story of Nottinghamshire's food heritage.

Hand stitched and printed socks hanging on a wooden clothes horse

Mills, Machines and Memories - Textiles Installation for Mansfield Museum

Clare Taylor was lead artist for Mansfield Museum’s National Lottery Heritage Fund project.
“Mills, Machines and Memories” celebrates the legacy of Mansfield’s textile industries. It takes the form of a permanent installation of hosiery created by Clare Taylor of Bus and Bird Arts and an accompanying film by John Slemensek of Bokehgo . The town’s textile heritage is represented by various items of hosiery, in the form of socks, tights and girdles of various shapes and sizes. Each item has the names, images and history of local mills and mill workers stitched, knitted and printed on to them alongside a stitched and printed record of conversations with workers from Mansfield’s textile factories. The imagery on the hosiery and the installation itself promotes conversation from visitors of all ages and acts as a collective memory of this treasured local industry.

Dinner Date

‘Dinner Date’ - this character, dressed in his best shirt and bow tie is loosely based on Clare's sister’s Siamese cat, Jimmy. He was a beef stealing, white wine slurping kind of guy. One Sunday, he dragged a freshly cooked joint of roast beef over their fence. He'd stolen it from a neighbour's kitchen. Can you imagine looking around and finding that half of your roast dinner had disappeared into thin air? He was partial to sticking his head in wine glasses and having a good old glug. He was a great character!

Earthenware and nichrome wire