Claudia Stevens Studios

In the art of traditional botanical painting dating back to ancient times, each flower is painted from real life plant specimens; with the purpose of documenting exotics, natives and endangered plant species, and increasing public awareness of the importance to respect and save our biotic resources. “I am fascinated with the architecture and complexity of plant structure and intrigued with the beauty of plant life.” Hand signed and numbered Giclée and wrap around design note cards are available. Both included a detailed plant description.

California artist, Claudia Stevens, has painted and illustrated for over twenty five years and has taught drawing, painting and clay sculpture for nineteen years. Her work appears in Sunset Magazine, Bantam Books, Academic Press, Harcourt Brace and Company Rodale Press, Idaho University Press's and others. Her work can be found here in the United States and abroad.

Artist’s Technique: Using naturalist illustration and gouache painting, Claudia Stevens is a fine artist specializing in painting. She also does scientific illustration for publication. Together, with her fine art background, she blends the two skills together with accuracy and aesthetics. Her technique begins by gathering plant specimens directly from the natural environment. Sometimes this requires extensive hiking to find the correct plant models for her work. She uses cut samples of the plants to create pressed flower herbariums as well as live cuttings to provide models to paint from her studio. Using naturalist watercolor and gouche painting to document many unique local plant species, Claudia begins the painting with heavy, archival hot press paper. She builds the color with multiple layers using a dry brush technique. The microscope and lens play an integral part in discovering the inside world and significant details of each plant. The intricacy of the flowers, stems and leaves are clearly shown in each painting so the viewer can appreciate the different stages of growth, and the micro-structural characteristics of the plant.

Artist's Background: Claudia is a graduate of San Jose State University with a Master of Arts degree. She received her BFA degree in Printmaking and took one year of Scientific Illustration at the Univ. of California at Santa Cruz. Her work is sold in local bookstores, galleries and shops throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in California as well as in the Pacific Northwest. She is a recipient of the University of California Presidential Fellowship, the Chancellor's Award, and the Creative Work Fund.

Claudia lives in coastal California and derives much of her creative energy from nature. The Mediterranean climate of Santa Cruz County provides a wide range of plant specimens, both California natives and world-wide exotics. Claudia gathers botanical specimens from international tropical rainforests as well as California’s Sierra Nevada and the Big Sur coast. Down a pdf of her resume.