Palisadian artist Claire Felson describes her art as both inner and outer, referring not to the manner in which she works as much as to her impulses. She is interested in the subtlety of Japanese art while being passionate about politics and the environment. Felson is exhibiting her work in the Gallery Chauvet in Hollywood with an opening reception on Saturday, January 27, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the gallery, 1948 Canyon Dr. The gallery spaces are assembled inside a Craftsman-style house. ‘I’ve separated my work into three categories,’ Felson says. ‘In the living room are the environmental and political paintings.’ Combining realism and calligraphy, she portrays environmental areas that are at risk. Dead fish drift across the hull of a trimaran in ‘Rising Acidity.’ In ‘going, going, gon,’ a large bee flies at the viewer and is blocked by a screen of pesticides. In the dining room, Felson has grouped pictures that reflect her continued exploration of the environment, and portraits, united by her strong use of purples and cerulean blue. Figurative paintings, hanging in the boudoir, show the influence of her six years restoring antique Japanese painted screens and her affinity for Japanese art. Working from models, she frequently incorporates sections of Japanese scrolls, wallpaper and calligraphy together with acrylic paint. Felson was raised in San Diego, attending Catholic schools through high school. She was an English major at San Diego State University and taught for two years before attending the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1965, where she earned her BFA. Her major was ceramics, which in later years she would call upon for special commissions. One from Barbra Streisand and James Brolin was a chess set, with the king and queen cast in their image. For many years, Felson and her husband Jack directed the Forest Farm Camps, a summer camp for kids, in Marin County, where they lived and raised their three children. The purchase came about in a casual way, Felson says. ‘The former owner said to us, ‘If you like camping and kids, you might want to look into this.’ We bought the place and built our house by hand, which featured an indoor campfire pit highlighted in Sunset magazine.’ Six years ago she returned to painting full time and has exhibited in Los Angeles and Lucca, Italy. She and Jack have lived in the Palisades for the last three years, where one of her three children and her grandchildren live.
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