High/Low: Inspirations & Limitations with Clare Owen

ARTISTS & DESIGNERS

| OCTOBER 07, 2026 |

3 MIN READ

With a visual language built around bold shapes, expressive colour, pattern and texture, Clare Owen's work strikes a fine balance between playful and sophisticated. Drawing inspiration from everyone from Corita Kent and Alexander Girard to Vivian Maier and Beyoncé, her practice is shaped by a love of collage, design and the everyday. Based in Bristol and working as an illustrator for more than 14 years, Clare talks about inspiration, limitation, and the blessing that is Ctrl Z.

Writer Holly Cresdee

Your work has such a distinctive visual language: bold shapes, expressive colour, pattern, and texture. How did that develop? Do you feel you consciously cultivated it, or did it emerge naturally?

I think it's an accumulation of my inspirations and my limitations. Lol. I'm not the strongest at drawing, so I think I rely on my design eye to create interest in my work. I love putting different elements together and have always loved collage and assemblage. I think it's why I like interior design too!

Your work has been described as "fun, yet classy and sophisticated". What does that balance mean to you, and is it something you consider when you're working?

I think that's my personality and interests coming through in my work. I'm very 'high/low'. I love trash telly and McDonald's, but then I also love pretentious art and design and watching docs on haute couture. Illustration is in the middle of those things; it's expressive but accessible!

Your influences are wonderfully varied, from Corita Kent and Alexander Girard to Vivian Maier, the Eameses, and Beyoncé. What do you take from those influences, and how do they show up in your work?

The folks I like seem to be in two camps... with some of them, I love their approach to creativity; you can feel that they need to be creative on a daily basis to help them make sense of the world. I def use my work to do that. Others I like use their creative eye across a few different mediums and outlets. In my dream life, I'd do that too! I would love to design a cafe like Wes Anderson.

How important are physical materials to your process? You've spoken previously about your love of collage - what is it about cutting, arranging and physically moving things around that appeals to you?

I've definitely come to rely on the computer more than I'd like, but I still love mark making. On the days I put my Wacom away and make a mess, I feel so much calmer. Mark making feels so therapeutic. Saying that, I am very grateful to ctrl z. I am too messy to be solely analogue.

Bristol has a strong creative identity. Does living and working there influence your work or the way you approach your practice?

100%. Every day I am vindicated here in choosing a creative career. I think if I had lived elsewhere, I may have felt pressure to get a different job. I have met my people here, and I feel very lucky!

You've now been working as an illustrator for more than 14 years. What has changed most about the way you work, and what has stayed the same?

My approach to image making is more or less the same, but my workflow is faster. Which is probably down to digital drawing tools and practice. I think I've got my 10,000 hours in now!

If you could spend a day watching any artist or designer work, from any period in history, who would it be, and what would you want to know?

Girard definitely! I would love to see how he made his work without computers. It's so graphic and flat, which could easily be done with vectors today. His ideas are so simple but strong, and I'd love to know how they came to him and where he got his inspiration.

Is there a project in your career that taught you something you still carry into your work today?

Years ago, I worked for a big lip balm brand. It was my first lesson in how many things have to align to get over the finish line, and it's normally not personal. It wasn't a straightforward job with curt communication and rounds and rounds of changes. It was hard not to take it personally, but I realised there were just a lot of corporate cooks that had opinions, and I just had to show up and do my best work.

And finally, after all these years of making things: what still makes you excited to pick up a pencil and start?

Besides paying the bills. I think it excites me, and it's therapeutic on lots of levels! I love playing, I love trying to push myself, and I love incorporating the things that inspire me to create something new.

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