Claire Cushman
Claire’s father’s family has spent summers in Sorrento, a small fishing village in coastal Maine, since 1896. She has been lucky enough to go there every summer of her life. As a child, whenever she arrived in Maine, she would rush down to the beach to breathe the sea air, touch the cold water, hunt for treasures among the rocks—and get out her paint set. While she doesn’t paint Maine landscapes exclusively, the Maine coast has always been her greatest source of inspiration as an artist.
Claire primarily works with oil on canvas. She holds a BA in English from Brown University and an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art. She lives and works between New Jersey and Maine with her family.
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Get to Know Claire Cushman
What currently inspires your art?
Perhaps not surprisingly, given my work, I'm most inspired by the beauty of Maine. It's a place I feel deeply connected to, and I find it easiest to paint when I'm there. Tellingly, when I'm not in Maine, I find inspiration by looking at photos of Maine.
Name a favorite work of art that immediately comes to mind. Why are you drawn to it?
"Winter, Monhegan Island," by Rockwell Kent. The light in this painting is mind-blowing. You can feel the cold. (Also, my husband and I honeymooned on Monhegan Island.)
Your favorite art museums from your travels?
Musée de Cluny, Paris, has a mesmerizing set of tapestries of a woman and a unicorn. Musée d'Orsay has the heavy hitters of impressionism and cannot be missed. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona.