"Like all painters, why I do what I do, and how I do it has evolved over time. Lately my focus has been on two different but complementary things: with some of my work, the primary goal is to create with ease and suppleness a grace; other works focus on the interdependence of all life. In the past, I aspired to capture the wild in a gesture, love in beauty, and peace in simplicity. I hope that all my work can be a small offering towards a more positive side of life."
Claudia Ross-Kuhn
This woman was BORN in Hollywood, but she didn’t let that slow her down! Claudia grew up in an artistic family with a Neapolitan artist mother and Opera director then impresario father and spent her early childhood years in Hollywood and Naples, Italy before arriving in the Northwest as a teenager.
She earned a B.A. in Fine Art at the University of Washington under the tutelage of her favorite teachers: Michael Spafford, George Tsutakawa, Norman Lundin, and Jacob Lawrence. Then, in pursuit of finding an outdoor day-job, she completed a Masters in Forestry, also at U.W. She worked in that industry for five years, but it became all consuming, so she made the decision to become self-employed. Meanwhile, her study of Chinese taoist movement arts for fifty years sharpened her ability to focus, be present and clearly see. She spent two years in Spain with her husband, painting and studying restoration at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Sevilla, all while immersed in gypsy flamenco culture.
She now resides in bucolic seclusion on Samish Island with her dog Madison, and husband Jim, the Paella King. They have a son Tobias Kuhn who lives in LA with his partner Marika Justad. They are pursuing a music career as musicians with a recording studio. Indeed whether it be Hollywood, Italy, Spain, or the northwest, all of her past travels and associations with artists, musicians, and studies continue to be reflected in her art.