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Claire Jefferson (who writes under the pseudonym Stella Wulf) was born in Lancashire, but grew up in North Wales. She moved to France in 2000 where she and her husband bought a large derelict property at the foot of the Pyrenees. Living on site and tackling one room at a time, she is now, more than twenty years on, banging in the last nail and working on plans for a new-build project.

Despite a lifelong love of poetry, Claire came to writing late in life in an epiphanic moment whilst painting doors. It became an obsession fuelled by Jo Bell’s 52 group, culminating in a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing, from Lancaster University.

Claire is a qualified interior designer, but it is only with the luxury of time that she has been able to pursue her passion for painting, exhibiting in several galleries and selling her paintings worldwide. She also designs the cover art for 4Word Press which she co-edits with Lesley Quayle.

Stella’s poems have found homes in many journals and anthologies and she has a pamphlet, After Eden, which is available from http://www.4word.org and A Spell in the Woods, which has just been published by Fair Acre Press  and is available here.
You can see more of her art work on her website http://www.stellawulf.com

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‘Time Flies, Say Not So: Time Remains,’Tis Man Must Go,’ or in my case ’tis woman must go.’ I’ve very much enjoyed sharing my paintings, drawings and poems with you over the course of the year. As Salvador Dali said, ‘A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others,’ and if I have moved only one of you delve into the visual arts, I can count my year’s tenure a success.

Creating art is a paradoxical pursuit that allows you lose yourself and at the same time to find yourself. This year has been hugely creative and fulfilling for me, with two illustrated poetry pamphlets, A Spell In The Woods, and Samara with Graham Mort, (THW Autumn edition) and an illustrated novella for children published by Runcible Spoon Press. This proves the old adage, ‘It takes a lifetime to become an overnight success,’ which sent me off on a mission to the attic to dig out my Interior Design portfolio, produced in a bygone era before CAD, when everything was painstakingly hand drawn.

For my final feature I’d like to share a retrospective of some of the work I have done over the years, ending with a couple of excerpts and drawings from my new book, And The Sea Whispered, a fantasy adventure story for pre-teens and child-people of all ages.

You can also read my poem ‘Resolution‘ by following the link.

Thank you David, for giving me this opportunity to share my passions, and thank you to all of you who have followed my features as Resident Artist — it has been a pleasure and a privilege.

If you would like to see more of my work you can find me here:

www.stellawulf.com

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Drawing and sculpting from life

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Interior design drawings

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Turtle — felt-tip, fine liner and gel pen

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Cover Design, illustrations and excerpts from, And The Sea Whispered, published by
Runcible Spoon Press, October 2021

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If you would like a signed copy of And The Sea Whispered, please contact me at
stella.wulf@gmail.com

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Stella Wulf: Valedictory Poem

RESOLUTION

There’s a girl inside a woman, who’s leaned too close,
steamed-up her windows. The woman tries to trace
a subject through its veil, drawing the conclusion
that the mists of time have settled in her eyes.

The girl wishes to be noticed, smiled at, admired,
remembering how she could once turn heads,
but the woman is a camera obscura, an object
to be looked through, a ghosted image, passed over.

The girl untwists a chocolate brazil,
peers through its cellophane wrapper,
purple was always her favourite colour.
The woman wears it with panache

and a hat that doesn’t match. It suits her,
this transparency. She’s a paparazza taking stock,
framing her own impressions, calling her own shots.
She huffs on her glasses – Waterford crystals

inherited from her mother, pours them brimful of cava.
The girl inside the woman dances to the snap of bubbles,
untwists a chocolate Brazil, sees-in 2020
through a purple cellophane haze.

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