A two-month camping trip from California to Pennsylvania as a child instilled in Claire a deep appreciation for the beauty and wonder in nature. As she grew older, her interest in art lead her on another journey discovering how to translate that love and observation of the world around her onto canvas. A resident of Cumberland County, she has been painting oil landscapes, florals, portraits and still-lifes for the past twenty-seven years.

Claire received a B.A. with honors in Art/English from Shippensburg University in 1984, and has studied with Wilma Leatherman Shearer, Karl Foster, and Patricia Walach Keough. Recently, she participated in a plein air landscape painting workshop in Virginia, instructed by Frank Hobbs and Ron Boehmer.

Her paintings have been exhibited at the William Ris Gallery in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, The Gallery Above the Studio in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the Whittaker Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Perry County Council of the Arts Gallery in Newport, Pennsylvania and the Art Center School and Galleries in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. 

She has won numerous awards in both juried and open competitions, including a Robert Stanley Best of Show Award and a People's Choice Award. Several of her paintings have been purchased by the Shippensburg University for display in their permanent art collection.

In addition to providing commissioned art for both individuals and public organizations since 1980, she also has extensive experience painting wall murals. In 2000, she was commissioned to design and paint a wall mural for the Mount Holly Springs Elementary School in Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, and the following year she painted a wall mural for the Lamberton Middle School teacher's room in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

For the past eight years Claire has been teaching both private and group oil painting classes from her studio, 'Pine School Studio', located in Gardners, Pennsylvania.

Claire is a member of Oil Painters of America, the Adams County Art Council, the Carlisle Art Association, the Carlisle Arts Learning Center, the Mechanicsburg Art Center School and Galleries, the Art Association of Harrisburg, and the Perry County Council of the Arts.