Featured Artist: Claire Astrow

Claire Astrow is currently the quarterly featured artist at Artist & Craftsman Supply Berkeley. If you’re in the neighborhood, make sure to stop by and check out her mural displayed there until the end of this month. We loved her work so much that we figured we would share Claire with the rest of you. Enjoy!

Artist & Craftsman Supply: Who are you and what do you do?

Claire Astrow: My name is Claire, and I’m artist and illustrator living in Oakland, California. When I’m not painting in my studio, I teach afterschool art classes in San Francisco through a Teaching Fellowship I have with an amazing art non-profit called Root Division. I also work as a publishing assistant at ILLUSTORIA, a beyond cool, new indie magazine for creative kids and their grownups. Finally, I work as an Art Lab Facilitator at the fantastic Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive! Phew-ee, what a workweek!

A&C: Did you go to school for art/what is your background?

CA: I recently graduated from University of California, Berkeley where I majored in Art Practice. But I’ve been making, or attempting to make, art since I was just a wee human. Here’s proof!

A&C: Do you have a favorite artist/piece of art?

CA: My current favorite artists include Shelby Rosabal, Michael Deforge, Bijou Karman, and Tara Booth. Fav all time artists include Alicia Mccarthy, Raymond Pettibon, Chris Johanson, Jonas Wood, David Hockney, and Kerry James Marshall.

A&C: What drew you to art initially?

CA: My grandmother is an amazingly talented artist and docent at the Princeton Museum of Art, and when I was little, she would take my twin sister and me to the museum and introduce me to heroes of the art world, from Modigliani to Margaret Kilgallen. I feel immensely privileged and grateful to have had such an extraordinary arts education at a young age.

A&C:What is your go-to album/artist right now (in the studio)?

CA: Love is Overtaking Me by Arthur Russell has been on repeat in my studio for a year straight, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that album. Besides that, Unhalfbricking by Fairport Convention, Acabou Chorare by Novos Baianos, ANTI by Rihanna and of course Bodak Yellow by Cardi B.

A&C: What do you like most about Artist & Craftsman Supply?

CA: Everyone who works at the A&C in Berkeley is so sweet, knowledgeable and patient. As soon as you walk in there’s just a super friendly, positive vibe that makes you want to linger in the paint section for way, way too long. Also, the music is always bumpin’.

A&C: What’s one thing you can’t leave the store without buying?

CA: Erasers!!! I lose them so easily I think they all plot to escape my studio when I’m not looking.

Thank you, Claire! If you want to check out more of her work head over to her website. Do you have an artist you would like to see featured on our blog? Tell us more! Email us with an artist you’re interested in learning more about.