Fludd Interviews / 41. Claire Softley

A) nome / name: Claire Softley

B) nazionalità / where are you from? British

C) età / how old are you?: 30

D) area d'azione (disegno, pittura, fotografia, animazione, ...) / your sphere of interests:  Drawing, collage, printmaking and sculpture.

E) studi / studies: I studied Drawing at Camberwell College of Art, London. I also have a post graduate qualification in Art and Design Education, from the Institute of Education, London.

F) qualcos'altro dal tuo curriculum / could you please tell us a little bit about what do you do/have you done?: After graduation I stayed living in London, working in galleries and arts venues. I then trained to be an art and Design teacher, but it wasn't for me. I'm more interested exploring art education away from the classroom environment. I have since moved to the Essex coast with my partner, we have an 18 month old son, we live in chaos!

G) 3 maestri / 3 masters: Jockum Nordström, David Hockney, Franz Kline.

H) 1 città d'ispirazione / 1 inspiring city: London.

I) dove il prossimo viaggio? / a place you'd love to visit soon: Maybe Sweden or New York.

J) 1 museo speciale / 1 special museum: Sir John Soane's Museum, London. The way the collection is displayed is especially inspiring.

K) 1 link da consigliare / 1 recommended web-site: http://www.blogaart.blogspot.co.uk/ A great blog that celebrates contemporary abstract painting.

L) gusto di gelato favorito / favorite ice cream flavour: Pistachio

M) un negozio che approvi / a shop you love:  At the moment it's Muji - simple and practical.

N) 2 oggetti che ti piacciono / 2 objects you like:  My pair of ercol pebble tables (there should be three, we are missing one!).

O) la tua colazione ideale / your ideal breakfast: Eggs Benedict and a glass of orange juice please.

P) un bel posto nelle tue vicinanze / somewhere nice to go in your neighbourhood: Priory Park, Prittlewell. It's a beautiful park, in the centre is a monastery dating to 1180, which is now a little museum. It also has walled formal gardens and a playground that my son loves.

Q) cosa stai leggendo ultimamente? / last books you have read: I haven't had much time to read since my son was born! I recently brought a book on the early collages of Robert Motherwell, which I'm very much looking forward to reading. 

R) cosa ti ispira attualmente? / what are a few things inspiring you at the moment?:  Museum collections, other peoples holiday photographs (from my collection of old 35mm slides) and the creative process. 

S) qual'è la principale difficoltà per un 'giovane creativo' oggi? / which is the main difficulty for a young creative today?: Distraction. Finding space and time to focus in a world completely overloaded with information.

T) dimensione collettiva nell'arte e nella creatività: si, no, come? / what do you think about the collective dimension of art and creativity?: Two minds are better than one!

U) cosa stai cercando? / what are you looking for: I am always looking for inspiration, new things to show my son, scrap paper, peace and quiet. 

V) di che cosa non vedi l'ora? / what are you looking forward?: Watching my son grow up, travelling more and continuing to make work.

W) progetti per il futuro (esagera!) / projects for the future (exaggerate!):  I have plans to print fabric, I am playing with designs at the moment. It will be exciting to explore a new process, I think its important to take yourself out of your comfort zone every so often. 

X) cosa ti piacerebbe studiare da vecchio? / what do you like to study when you'll be old?:  My parents are avid gardeners! So perhaps i'll follow in their footsteps and study horticulture.

Y) un buon proposito per la stagione 2014 / a good purpose for the 2014 season: To draw more from life.

Z) la parola "fludd" cosa ti fa venire in mente? / what does the word "fludd" suggest you?: It makes me think of an episode of time team (an excellent programme all about archaeology) where they found thousands of wonderful roman artefacts on the bed of a river. 

LINKS: Web-site