Claire Desjardins

Early life

Born in 1965, in Montreal, Quebec, Claire Desjardins is the daughter of artists Jane and Pierre Desjardins. She is the younger of two children. Her parents bought land in Vermont, while pregnant with Claire, and much of Claire’s early years were spent in the home that her parents built themselves, especially during the mid 1960s until the early 1980s. The family sold the property in 2011. The daughter of an Olympic sailor, Claire and her family spent a great deal of time sailing, which meant traveling abroad, mostly to Europe, frequently spending summers on her father’s sailboat, exploring the northern side of the Mediterranean Sea. She spent time in France and England (where her mother’s family lived). In order to occupy her time, her mother, an art teacher, would frequently give Claire and her brother crayons and paper, and encourage them to create drawings, so that art became an integral part of Claire’s life at an early age.

In 1990, Claire moved to the US Virgin Islands, where she was inspired by the colours of the sea, the flora and fauna. An avid scuba diver, she relished the quiet of the world under water, and the beauty and abundance of colourful fish.

Artist Residencies

Claire has received grants to attend various artist residencies: In 2011 and 2013, she attended the Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson, Vermont, USA; she was also invited to, and attended the Da Wang Culture Highland in Shenzhen, China, in 2013, where a piece of her artwork remains in their permanent collection. In 2015, not being able to find the right artist residency to meet her scheduling needs, Claire decided to create her own self-directed artist residency by renting an apartment and an art studio, in the Unesco Heritage town of San Miguel de Allende, an artist colony located in the northern central mountains of Mexico. Her studio was located on the grounds of the historical Instituto Allende, a center for the arts.

Career highlights

Desjardins worked for many years as a graphic designer and was ensconced in a life of technology and marketing. In 2011, she gave up a regular pay cheque to pursue her love of painting full-time.

Since then, U.S. retail chain, Urban Outfitters, has sold her original artwork under their Anthropologie banner, online as well as in their New York, Chicago, and Montreal stores. Claire’s work has also appeared in televisions shows, and appeared in the Warner Brothers feature film, "Winter's Tale" (released in February 2014).

Selected Solo Exhibitions