All because a girl and a bear fell in love…
In the summer of 2018, while both working as a photographers for Everything But The House, “Clare” (Jen) and “Bear” (Chris) met and fell in love. We shared a passion for many things – for good food and cooking, for travel and adventures, and most importantly, for photography and design. And so, the idea for Clare & Bear Creative was born!
Jen was born and raised in the north of England. From a very young age, she could be found running around the house and the garden with a camera in hand. It was always a hobby, but it was in 2010 while living in Italy, she decided to make photography her career, enrolling in the BSc Photography program at the Art Institute – Online. Since it was online, she started in the world of Digital Photography. She found it came quite naturally, regularly appearing on the Dean’s Honors List, although always regretted not getting to learn the process of the darkroom.
Chris was always an “art kid” – always having a tool in his hand and an idea in his head. By about his junior year he knew he was going to art school, he was not going to be swayed in my decision…and that’s what he did. In fall of 2001, he started in the Graphic Arts Program at Antonelli College in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. He thought it was going to be a cakewalk since art seemed to come quite naturally to him. He had a rude awakening. It wasn’t just making art, it was making art ON TIME, it was the expectation to turn out the best work he had ever done, quicker and more frequently than ever before with zero margin for error. It shaped him for the better, it honed his attention to detail and his precision, the penalties for mistakes were steep. As he started to move more towards the commercial world of the art universe he began to notice that most things required photo work, and he slowly started to get frustrated with the realization that when he graduated if he needed any layout or design with photos in it he was going have to not only hire someone. So he graduated in late 2003, took a quarter off and re-enrolled at Antonelli in the Photography Program. With photography, he fell madly in love with the process almost immediately. First quarter, students were required to purchase a 35mm Film SLR camera (he still has it – we both collect antique cameras as well) and only worked in Black and White film for the first few quarters. He absolutely loved working in the darkroom and still misses it very much.
We’ve both worn many hats as a creatives – designing logos for small businesses, production artist making PDF proofs for graphic design teams, selling paintings and drawings, shooting weddings, photographing sports, event photography, shot corporate headshots, editing hundreds of thousands of product photos, and shooting nearly as many product photos. The times though, when we were most happy, were when we were let out of the metaphorical corral and was just left to create as we saw fit. No notes, no direction, just a pen, or camera, or paintbrush and stream of consciousness.
That’s what Jen and Chris are trying to create here with Clare and Bear. We are always expanding as artists but we also know what we do very well. Let us show you why and how!
clareandbearcreative.com 