Valerie Claff has been painting atmospheric landscapes in oils and watercolors from visual memories of sailing off the eastern seaboard and coastal mountain views from Greece. Fog, mists and coastal storms were subjects for her work. Five years ago she moved to Western Massachusetts in the foothills of the Berkshires. Inspiration for her new paintings is found in misty marshes and hilltops, pine and hemlock forests, and storms seen from the high elevations of the rolling rural terrain.
“In my new location in a rural town in western Massachusetts, my home and studio sit amidst large sweeping hemlock trees, green, green mosses and giant ferns. The calls of ravens pierce the silence of the forest and I am moved to make work that reflects an ancient stirring within me to live close to the land and celebrate the power of tree and stone and bear, with whom I share the land. The hemlock forest is dark and misty, and the patterns of branches create an intricate weaving of lines. The surrounding hills offer high views of incoming storms, rising fog and the tops of distant trees, while the marshes and fields catch the mists and trees are seen through wispy, flowing veils. In my paintings, I explore the essence of forms obscured through various atmospheric events.”
