Claire was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana; from a young age, she was exposed to the fine arts through her mother, Christel Dawkins, who has an MFA in painting from LSU and who oil paints en plein air. Claire’s primary professional interests are in literature, but she took elective classes in art and art history through middle school into her undergraduate coursework at LSU. Claire left Louisiana for California to go to graduate school in English literature and to teach. While in California she cultivated an interest in hiking and nature photography. During the pandemic, she and her family moved back to Louisiana, and she continues to work remotely as an English instructor for Stanford University Online High School. She regularly hikes in Louisiana; as a painter, she works in oils, referencing her photographs from these hikes.