Claire Armitage
Claire Armitage | Textiles | Cornwall
Claire works from her studio in Cornwall, where the landscape and coastline inspire much of her textiles and printmaking. Her work is rich in lyrical narrative, blending floral, avian and nautical imagery with literary references to poetry and folklore.
There is a story behind each of her collections of textiles and limited edition prints. The Museum Botanical collection explored the hidden narratives within 19th century natural history collections; artefacts from contrasting provenance, somehow linked through proximity and serendipity.
Claire has long been fascinated by the metaphorical power of forests and folk stories, the Moon Tree Collection was inspired by winter woodlands and an anonymous writer who hypothesized in 1703 that swallows fly to the moon to hibernate. With hazy glimpses of cloud through verdant flora and fauna, much of the Cloud Bloom collection was inspired by Claire’s time spent drawing in Trewidden Gardens, Cornwall; the designs layer floral imagery with British garden birds and illustrations of Mousehole harbour.
Claire is a visiting lecturer at Falmouth University, a lecturer at Truro and Penwith college and previously worked as a costume designer for over a decade; she holds a BA in Textiles from Goldsmiths and an MA in Textile design.