I am Claudia Pettis, artist and sculptor working in the best of all possible studios on a farm on Whidbey Island. As a young child I knew with absolute clarity I was a farmer and that that defined me beyond all else. I paint to describe that experience.

As a shepherd, I care how we manage our lands and take care of our most ancient grazers, the sheep. I paint them to remember a time when small farms were sustainable and the land and air were clear.

I am a shepherd and an artist. I paint the sheep movements and faces as tenderly as I believe I would paint the portrait of a nobleman in the 16th century. I studied Renaissance painting – the Rembrandt workshop, the light of Vermeer, raw pigments more precious than gold. Materials are important to me, from the Belgian hand-woven linen to the rabbit skin glue. The process I use of stretching and preparing my own linen is the same as the coveted European gild secrets held for centuries. I am indebted to Matisse, Rembrandt, and Cezanne for my daily inspiration. I paint to remember a familiar place and paint the beauty of that time.