Featured Artist
Claire Hardy
Growing up in California, Claire Hardy always loved to draw. Early on, her art teachers recognized her talent and taught her shading and how to create the illusion of form. Hardy began drawing realistically and has since continued with realism as her signature style.
While earning her business degree at the University of New Mexico, she continued taking art classes. Post-graduation, Hardy sought classical art instruction. This training brought her to study at the Art Institute of Florence, Italy. It was there, while in total immersion, that she threw herself into oil painting. She backpacked through Europe and the Middle East for five months studying art, culture, and history and then moved to Sewickley, PA.
By day, she worked as a graphic designer. By night, she painted still life studies. Claire began showing her work in local galleries and then expanded to galleries in Santa Fe, NM, and Washington, DC. Since 2010, Claire has been painting full-time and opened a professional studio. She continues to study and experiment with oil painting, always eager to get to the next painting. She served on the executive board of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and later as president of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists.
Her work can be found in numerous private collections in Pittsburgh, the Southwest, Canada, and Europe.
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Art Institute of Florence, Italy Study Abroad Summer Programs 2001 and 1999
Oil Painting, Watercolor Painting, and Sculpture
University of New Mexico B.B.A., Business Mgt. - Entrepreneurial Studies, 1996
Graphic and Multimedia Design Certificate, 2000
Watercolor Painting, Chinese Brush Painting, Abstract Painting, Gesture Drawing
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Solo Show, Expired Mills, Inspired Landscapes Rowe Gallery, Greensburg, PA Spring 2016
Solo Show, Expired Mills, Inspired Landscapes Nemacolin Gallery, Farmington, PA Fall 2015
Solo Show, Retrospective Christine Frechard Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA Summer 2015
Group Show, 30:2 Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA Spring/Summer 2013
Solo Show, The Steel Mill Project Hoyt Institute of Fine Art, New Castle, PA Summer 2013
Solo Show, Ballerina Impressions Westminster Presbyterian Church Art Gallery, Mt. Lebanon, PA Aug/Sep 2013
Solo Show, The Artful Tulip Nemacolin Gallery, Farmington, PA Spring 2013
Beauty and the Beast: Figures and Faces in Pittsburgh’s Industrial Landscape Galerie Werner, Pittsburgh, PA 2012 (Group)
Solo Show, Moods of Pittsburgh: Expired Mills, Inspired Landscapes Galerie Werner, Pittsburgh, PA 2011
Five Women Show, Beauty, Strength, Reflection Shaw Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA 2011
Artist Feature Show, New Works Canyon Road Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM 2009
Solo Show, Golden Squares Sewickley Gallery & Frame Shop, Sewickley, PA 2007 and 2009
