Swim Fish Swim

Clare Youngs is a collage artist, who makes colorful and playful artworks from cut paper.

Each piece of paper used is hand painted or printed with textures and pattern work and then cut and pieced together to make the finished piece.

Clare trained as a Graphic Designer and worked in the industry, in London design groups before branching out into a more art-based career. Clare’s work has a strong graphic feel about it, which directly stems from her background in design.

Pattern is also an important feature in many of her artworks. She uses pen and ink, paint and printing methods to produce an endless variety of patterns to use. Clare will often print a texture over a pattern to add another layer and depth to the finished piece.

Clare’s work has a retro feel to it. Her love of mid-century design, especially textiles, and children’s book illustration has been an influence when developing her own style. But really she is inspired by anything and everything! A weathered piece of stone or even a chunk of cement could be the start of some printed texture. Some pages torn from an old magazine might develop into new color combinations to use. She is an avid collector of printed ephemera, some saved from her childhood and these scraps of paper can often spark off an idea.

People have often said that her artworks make them smile. This is something that is very important to Clare and in turn makes her smile!