Clare Counts
Painter
CONNECT WITH CLARE COUNTS
Sacred Art LIVE! Artist 2024, 2025
“I have always been encouraged to better glorify our Creator through my own form of creation,” says Clare. For as long as she can remember, Clare has been striving to capture the likenesses of the Holy Family and the saints. Catholic doodles embellished the margins of school assignments, filled scrap pieces of paper, marked one’s spot between pages of books, and have been gifted to family and friends. In her freshmen year of high school, Clare began refining her skills and pursuing her God-given gifts. She credits her mother with beautiful insight and critique, as well as her multitude of loved ones who have always cheered her on.
“I am most inspired by the Franciscan concept of God present in all His wonderful creation, of His fingerprint in all aspects of our lives,” says Clare. “My art is a feeble attempt to encapsulate the virtue of awe and wonder that we are all called to practice.” Whether it is a painting of the Blessed Virgin, the glorious saints, an awe-inspiring church, the faith lived through sacraments and sacramentals, and even God’s First Book, nature, Clare incorporates elements of whimsy and joyful peace.
After hearing about the event from friends and family across the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Clare attended the 2023 Sacred Art LIVE! show as a visitor and says that she came just to absorb the beauty that modern artists are bringing to the Church. “I’m so excited to be in the same room as so many people who so passionate about glorifying God and sharing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty with our contemporary culture,” says Clare.
While Clare primarily works with watercolor and acrylic, she enjoys additional obscure hobbies that she considers to be art in their own right. One of her favorite pastimes is letter writing. “It’s so therapeutic to organize one’s deepest ponderings and to share them with those who are dear, expressed in looping penmanship (I’m still working on making my handwriting legible) and to embellish the letters with illustrations and color-coordinated wax seals!”
