Emily Clare (b. 1954, Cookeville, Tennessee) creates small-scale art that encourages dialogue about the fragility of our environment and the opportunities we have to protect our native plant species from the intrusion of invasive species. Her inspirations come from collecting elements of native, exotic, and invasive plants during nature hikes which she prints and weaves into intimate abstract drawings, mixed media, and collages. Clare majored in Fine Art at Vanderbilt University and The College of Charleston, and currently lives and works in North Carolina.
While on the Norman Bird Sanctuary campus, Clare drew inspiration from the landscape’s native and invasive species, creating ink-based works using various printmaking techniques. Based in Mabel Norman Cerio’s historic art Studio space, Clare was able to introduce Norman Bird Sanctuary staff and visitors along with other artists to her printmaking process and resulting products. Clare’s work at the Norman Bird Sanctuary builds on the landscape’s centuries’-old artistic legacy, and we were thrilled to host her in celebration of the continuation of that legacy.
All ink used during this project was generously donated by Akua Inks.
In Conversation with Emily Clare:
What drew you to the Norman Bird Sanctuary and how did you end up here?
I came to Rhode Island last year and spent a week here. I found out about the Sanctuary being here and I just felt that I had to come. We walked the trails – a lot of them – and it was just the perfect place for what I do: Printing exotic, native, and invasive species.
I fell in love with it. It is calming and you just forget, at least I did, whatever anxiety you have. The energy is very healing here and I felt this connection and just really wanted to be here and have the opportunity to do work.
I contacted NBS after seeing you all had a residency in the past and got in touch with Anna (NBS Research & Collections Coordinator), and the rest is history!
When and how did you first start working with plant printing?
I have always been drawn to nature and it has always found a place in my work. It’s organic. I was working with plants and using them in other ways and I started finding out about gel plate printing.
Seeing invasive species taking over, environmentally what we plant is very important. If we don’t have the native species, it affects animals, insects, and the whole ecosystem. And we do have a lot of invasive plants all over!
What do you enjoy most about the process?
I like the texture of the plants I work with. I like the patterns. It is very calming to be surrounded by plants and I am constantly looking at shapes. 
Are there invasives, natives, exotics? I am learning a lot that way – by just observing. I just love working with them and I have been doing it for a good while and I wanted to be more specific about what I was doing.
Bringing attention to this and to me personally, it is very healing. My love is growing more just from working with the plants and that aspect of surrounding myself with them to find some type of calmness and healing. Since being here, I have just been so calm.
