About the Artist

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Born and bred in Switzerland, Claudia grew up surrounded by the natural beauty of this tiny country. She tried her hand at various jobs from legal secretary to media buyer and prison warden, all the while travelling as much as possible. In the early 1980s, she had finally saved up enough to visit the country of her childhood dreams. During a couple of long driving expeditions she fell in love not only with the Australian country side, but also with one of the numerous friends she had made along the way: her future husband Alan Imhoff. After a fierce battle with the Immigration Department, they were married on Australia Day 1985.

It was a whole new life - an orchardist's wife in semi rural Kenthurst. But it was here through a strange set of circumstances that Claudia discovered her artistic talent. The decline of the fruit growing industry called for diversification, new avenues had to be explored. When in 1992 the need for a logo and label for the marketing of their fresh ducks arose, and the quotes to get the artwork and printing done were too high, Claudia opted to attend evening college in order to learn to draw a duck. Not only did she learn to draw more than just ducks, but she also acquired some printmaking skills, and ended up creating the labels as well as printing them herself.

A number of other evening classes, weekend workshops and classes at the Julian Ashton Art school provided her with more and more of the skills necessary to turn her natural talent into a useful and rewarding hobby.

Husband Alan, always keenly interested and supportive, attended a professional framing school in 1995 to be able to provide all of Claudia's work with conservation quality framing. In more recent years, Alan has gone along to a few painting workshops, and is showing some considerable talent himself.

In the year 2000, they left Kenthurst and the encroaching city behind and moved to the picturesque Mount Bullaway Station. Despite the work involved in breeding and looking after the cattle, Claudia not only continues to produce an array of works of art, but has since opened an Art Gallery and Art Supply Shop in Coonabarabran.

Claudia's work is in private and corporate collections both here in Australia and overseas.