Hello! My name is Claire (named after my Great Aunt Billie Claire), and I am an illustrator and digital artist, specializing in hand lettering, ink drawings, and graphic design. I love making people laugh from the unexpected and I particularly enjoy pairing elegant florals with profanity and sass. 

Originally from New Mexico and raised by a family of scientists, I am keen on getting lost in nature, appreciating the tiniest of details, and doing my best to identify ALL the plants. I went to school in New Orleans, where I fell in love with a man and a city. (Things worked out - we’re married. Not the city and I… the man. Right. Anywho.) I had the privilege of working at Preservation Jazz Hall and as an event planner for the Contemporary Arts Center; and I got to ride the street car to work every day. I love that city like I would a person, and my chest swells when I even think of those oak tree lined streets and the French Quarter. From there, I spent a decade in Austin, Texas, which is where Billie Claire Handmade was born, and where my obsession with tacos began. We lived right on the greenbelt, and I miss the coyotes and armadillos that used to come up to our apartment so very much. During my time there, my days were split between growing Billie Claire Handmade and The Hermes Lab - where I taught after school clubs like sewing and crafts, and enrichment classes like world geography and social studies. Seeking new adventures and a different climate, my husband and I packed up a Budget truck and moved across the states to Washington, DC in the Spring of 2019. After a stellar first year in DC and a second ‘weirdest year of my life #thankscovid,’ we finally found our place in Church Hill in Richmond, Virginia. We love it here more than we could imagine, and spend our days eating cake, taking dips in the James River, and relaxing at Chimborazo Park with our quarantine puppy, Mootz.