The step-by-step process of an artist who covers herself in paint

Video produced and edited by Ryan Klabunde.

Greta Claire picks up a paintbrush. Then, slowly, she lets colorful paint drip in a thick cover over her hands and arms.

It’s all part of the process for the Minnesota-based contemporary painter and designer. Claire began creating art as a child and grew to love the sensory experience of painting, she said.

“I greatly appreciate seeing this thick chemical liquid slowly drip and move over someone’s skin, and then being able to watch the colors interact with each other, and also feel the texture and the weight of the paint,” she said. “I don’t know why it’s so intriguing, it’s just beautiful to me.”

She works from what she describes as a “gut feeling,” moving materials across the canvas until she is satisfied. She has worked with a variety of materials, including paint, metals and encaustics, a wax-based paint that must be heated while the artist applies it to canvas.

Claire studied interior design at The Art Institutes International, where she also learned about landscaping and architecture. “They’re not separate elements,” she said. “I love doing it all.”

This report originally appeared on PBS member station Twin Cities PBS in Minnesota. Local Beat is an ongoing series on Art Beat that features arts and culture stories from PBS member stations around the nation.