Clara Hancock

I cannot remember any time without art in my life. I was brought up in Colombia where my Father used to take me and my siblings to all the museums and art galleries in Bogota (the Capital City) and whenever we travelled: that was the norm for me. When I had to choose my university studies my parents pressed me to study law but I thought that subject was not transferable to other countries and I wanted to travel.

Tel: 078300 21315
Email: clara@clarahancock.com
Website: www.clarahancock.com

I chose aesthetics and history of art, which seemed to me to be universal around the World – these subjects are part of human nature. After graduating I travelled to Paris to continue studying art. At that stage I really wasn’t making art; I was criticising what other people did!

I travelled to London and there I did my first craft and art work: I constructed tandoori ovens for a living and joined classes in sculpture. My first student work was a seated lady sculpted out of Ancaster stone; I still have her, 40 years later, on display in my house and the sight of her still gives me pleasure (my critical skills from studies of art may be biased here). My artwork now is principally in painting on silk, glass fusion, sculpture in various materials, and ceramics. I am a member of the East Finchley Open arts group and of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. I give gallery talks in the British Museum.

In all my art I am inspired by my travels and the varieties of colours, light and form wherever I go. Hampstead Garden Suburb provides local abundance of all these in the architecture, private gardens and public spaces – both formal and the woods.