Spending an evening talking about Clara Mason Fox at the Moulton Museum was like spending an evening conversing with her friends. It gave me the chance to share her life and achievements with her “El Toro folks” of south Orange County. When my husband inherited Clara’s (his great-great aunt) detailed art, descriptive writings, and poetry I realized she left us an enduring legacy of Orange County’s cultural landscape. I felt a connection to her story that led me to write her biography titled Distant Indigo.
Researching Clara’s life was not a task: it was an adventure. I followed her footsteps through the streets of New York City where she attended Cooper Union to study art- a bold aspiration for a woman in the late 1800s. I sat beside the same stream in Silverado Canyon where she would sketch and paint. I swam at Arch Beach in Laguna where the ocean inspired her poetry and paintings, just as they do for me now.
This journey didn’t just bring me closer to Clara. It brought me closer to myself. Through her, I found inspiration to paint botanical watercolors and create paintings of Laguna Beach. Her legacy lives on in Orange County and beyond through everything she accomplished. She taught me that the past isn’t something we leave behind. It’s something we carry forward, brushstroke by brushstroke, poem by poem, story by story. I invite you to discover more about Clara Mason Fox. Perhaps like me, you will find more than just an artist. You’ll find some inspiration. View the Canyon Colors: The Botanical Art of Clara Mason Fox exhibit.
