Claire Birckel de Bailliencourt paints on pinewood, incorporating the grains of the wood into her landscapes in order to create soft, subtle light effects in skies, waters and buildings.

Claire was raised in France and always liked painting on wood. She started with decorative paintings on furniture before finding her style in distinctive wood pictures. She first exhibited in the Caribbean, influenced by naïve painters and the islands' bright colors, but always keeping softness in her palette.

Back in Paris, she worked with other painters near the Impressionists’ Island in Croissy-sur-Seine.

When Claire came to the United States in 1995, she fell in love with New York City and Westchester County, where she lives: "I liked the contrast between Manhattan skyscrapers and the quiet suburban areas with neat houses and gardens that reminded me of childhood books and dollhouses." She started exhibiting her original paintings of friends’ homes.

After September 11, she focused on New York cityscapes. Rediscovering Manhattan, she's been constantly adapting her painting techniques to the multi-facetted Big Apple.

In 2003, she exhibited in Manhattan showing city scenes and views of the Manhattan skyline from across the Hudson.

Because she has always been using wood as an inspiring canvas, which comes directly from nature, her current series "Wood on Wood” pays a special tribute to trees and their beautiful wood. "Looking at trees is an endless source of peace and amazement. A tree is a whole little world in itself: each of the hundreds of ephemeral leaves finds its very own place along its solid nurturer. Painting them makes me realize how important each of them is. Without the leaves in the shade, the leaves in the light couldn’t shine as much. I also like painting trees when the leaves are gone, focusing on their 'pregnant branches’."