Hand painted watercolor paper goods created with warmth, tenderness, and a deep love for the handmade.
There’s a softness woven through every piece Claire Bula creates. The delicate watercolor florals, drifting ribbons of color, thoughtful typography and illustrations each carry a feeling of nostalgia and care. Her work exudes the kind of quiet joy that turns everyday paper goods into keepsakes, balancing fine art sensibility with heartfelt connection.
Claire’s creative journey is deeply tied to her father, an architect and fine artist who first taught her to watercolor as a child. Painting became something they shared throughout his life, a language of closeness and creativity that stayed with her long after his passing in 2018. Claire’s father encouraged her to pursue happiness, a moment that ultimately led her to completely reinvent her life and step fully into creative work as a professional designer and artist. Now, every painting feels like both a continuation of that relationship and a way of giving forward a little of that love.
Working entirely by hand, Claire paints each watercolor herself before incorporating the artwork into greeting cards, cocktail napkins, notebooks, planners, bespoke wedding invitations, and other paper goods. Nothing is digitally painted or replicated through artificial watercolor effects. Every bloom, brushstroke, and wash of color comes from real paint, water, and the movement of her own hand.
Her style feels unmistakably personal because of that analog process. The paintings carry a looseness and lyricism that can only come from traditional watercolor, fluid edges, layered transparencies, and subtle imperfections that make each illustration feel alive. Claire often describes the work as carrying a kind of artistic DNA, traces of her father’s light touch and artistic philosophy still visible in the way she paints today.
Based in Newburyport on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Claire works from her home studio overlooking a green yard and flourishing flower and vegetable gardens. Morning light fills the space while birds, trees, clouds, and changing seasons continually find their way into her illustrations. The bucolic landscape of Claire’s home and gardens shape nearly every piece she creates.
What You'll Find at Bloom
Hand painted watercolor greeting cards and paper goods, bespoke stationery, notebooks, and cocktail napkins, and joyful illustrations inspired by nature, memory, and connection
Follow Along
Claire Bula Designs
Why Bloom?
”I love the idea of being featured as part a group of dedicated makers in a local brick and mortar shop! The attention to detail and craft that the owners have when curating their shop feels like the right fit for my hand-based work; I would be overjoyed for someone to be able to wander in on a lovely sunny afternoon and find something I made for someone they love.” - Claire
Fun Fact
In addition to Claire Bula Designs, Claire teaches graphic design at Boston University and is also a letterpress printer!