Meet Josh Clare

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Clare.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Art has always been a part of me; I just didn’t always realize it. I’ve always loved drawings and as a kid would pore over my ‘Calvin and Hobbes” comics, and study the animation in classic Disney films like ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ I was good at drawing and spent some time doing it, but it was mostly just doodles when I was bored at school or at church. After High School, I was accepted to Brigham Young University Idaho and was able to attend one semester before I left on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My focus at that time was almost wholly on my mission and school was just something to fill in the time while I waited. I was required to declare a major and chose ‘art.’ I think part of me was planning on changing it later–but after that first semester of serious art instruction, I was hooked.

I swung from graphic designer to illustrator, and finally to fine artist in a fairly short amount of time, realizing after an internship I did as a designer than to be truly fulfilled, I was going to have to be ‘in charge.’ I knew myself well enough by then to realize that creating was an essential part of my nature–something I needed. I think I could have been very happy as a designer or animator as well–but fine art offered me the equivalent of the director’s chair right off the bat–it was just too tempting not to try.

Two weeks after graduating with a BFA in illustration in 2007 I got into my first gallery in Jackson Hole, WY and started selling paintings. I taught at BYU-Idaho part-time for three years before gallery sales were sufficient (barely) 🙂 to allow me and my wife to believe we could make it full-time. That was in 2010, and I’ve been blessed to be a full-time artist ever since.

Please tell us about your art.
I make paintings of things as they are–striving to capture with pigment a reminder of the perfection of God’s creation. Nothing man has made even approaches the subtlety, the variety and the intense beauty of nature–God’s art. His work delights me, fills me with joy, with pleasure, and with a desire to share. That’s why I paint. To share.

Learning to see beauty, to receive it, is a process– A lifelong process. Painting is an integral part of my quest to see things as they truly are, but more than that it is my way of inviting others to start that journey themselves.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
No. I don’t think it has changed or that it will change. I think artists are obligated to see the beauty in things and to help others see it. I think art should lift, inspire, and edify. Truly great artists have always done that–truly enduring art has always done that. And truly great art (and artists) will continue to do it.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can find a list of my galleries on joshclare.com. I sell directly from the studio as well. So to support my work contact one of my galleries or get in touch with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: joshclare.com
• Phone: 8013683764
• Email: joshclare@gmail.com
• Instagram: @jclareart

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