At an early age, Claire Hayes began painting with acrylic and oils. She was first inspired by nature and her sense of smell, sight and touch. She worked intuitively and experienced the freedom to paint with no set boundaries, which often led to surprising end results.

Years later, Claire felt the need to expand her skill set after discovering a very talented encaustic artist in Toronto. Claire studied with this influential artist and has now incorporated beeswax from her home area as one of her mediums in her encaustic works. Her favorite part of working with the wax is being able to enjoy her sense of touch during her encaustic process and finding her materials locally. Soft, dreamlike imagery filled with elements of nature reveals itself through layers of colors and texture in every piece.