Artist, sculpture, jeweler, entrepreneur and now writer, is there anything Claire Haye cannot do?

I’ve known Claire for a long time and I’ve seen her ride the changes life brings, from motherhood to widowhood (and grand – motherhood) with grace and resolve. She has transformed the best and the most challenging of her experiences into the amazing work she produces, which can be seen in the Sculpture Garden and Gallery at Clare Works in the charming village of Arroyo Seco, on the way to Taos Ski Valley.

Claire grew up in a creative, intellectual and Bohemian environment in Chicago and New York. She and her late husband, Michael came here from Chicago during the 70’s and stayed, raising their two daughters in a modest home on a shady street in town. Michael, a brilliant psychotherapist, worked in his home office and in that same house, Claire began to create the body of work that has garnered her acclaim from all over.

When the girls were in their teens, Claire had already begun to make the striking jewelry she’s mostly known for, Informed by her varied interests in design, architecture, paleolithic art and ritual, matriarchal myth and symbolism and anything else that inspires this tireless mind, these pieces caught the attention of many and in no time at all she was discovered by the QVC Network.

A savvy entrepreneur, Claire used the exposure as an opportunity to brand her business and her namesake gallery. Claire Works has become a destination spot for many travelers to Taos from all over the world, who continue to collect her distinctive jewelry as well as her art.

I have a necklace of sterling silver and turquoise, with little Hands of Fatima that illicits oohs and aahs whenever I wear it. I’ve had it for years but it remains a favourite piece I reach for again and again.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Claire is a just a little bit of a dynamo. Besides painting, sculpting or making ceramics (she’s been tiling a space in her home with hand-made tiles ) these days she is also hard at work on a book which is almost complete. We will most definitely cover that here on taoStyle.

Meanwhile please visit her Website linked below to discover more about Claire and her wonderful whimsical and imaginative art along with her very wearable jewelry.

claireworks

Photographs of Claire and her jewelry (on Georgia and Corrina) by Claire’s daughter, Melissa Haye-Cserhat

Caveat: Michael Haye’s Aunt by marriage was my first teacher at school in South Africa when I was six. Mrs. Drummond – Haye encouraged my love of reading and writing, I remember her more than most of the teachers who came after.