Josh Clare

Born in 1982, Joshua grew up drawing and was rarely without a pencil and paper, but it wasn’t until he began studying art at BYU-Idaho that he began painting. That first oil painting class included a trip to the galleries in Jackson Hole (his first visit to an art gallery or museum) and completely changed the course of his life. Since graduating with a BFA in illustration from BYU-Idaho in 2007 Josh has been supporting himself and his family with art--and he thanks God every day for that remarkable blessing.

Josh has earned numerous awards along the way including artists choice at the 2012 Laguna Plein Air Invitational and 2nd place in the Raymar 6th Annual Painting Competition. Early in 2014 Josh was featured for three consecutive months in several of the nation’s finest art magazines: Western Art and Architecture, Southwest Art, and Art of the West. He lives with his wife and five ridiculously cute children in Cache Valley, UT.

Harvey Dunn, a golden age illustrator, taught his students that they should thank God every day for “the privilege of seeing the sun cast shadows.” Josh does just that.

“Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power. I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came unto his own was not comprehended” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:47-48).

“Paintings are magic. They really are. Somehow in the simple act of creation I engage in nearly every day a part of my desires, a part of me, gets stuck into the paint, and it stays there. It still fills me with wonder, even after 15 years of painting, but it really happens.

And every once in a while I come across a painting done by a man or a woman who truly saw something, truly felt it and had to tell about it—and it changes me for good. That’s why I paint.

I live hoping to become the kind of man worth knowing, and I paint hoping that someday, someone will see the bits of me stuck there in my work—and be changed for the better.

If there is anything in my work that is good—it’s because of and thanks to God the father of our spirits and His son Jesus Christ. As often as I forget it, I know that I am nothing of myself, and I’m deeply grateful that God has allowed me to live, and to paint.”