Claire Schroeven Verbiest is a Belgian native who lived in the Congo and in Germany before moving to San Jose, California with her husband and their two children. An award-winning artist and a signature member of several art societies, Verbiest is considered one of the finest watercolor and pastel artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1999, her painting “Haute Cuisine” received the High Winds Medal at the American Watercolor Society’s annual exhibition. She is well known for her lively, crisp and truthful depictions of people, landscapes, flowers and objects and for her distinctive use of color. She teaches watercolor and pastel painting classes and conducts painting workshops throughout the US, Canada and Europe. She frequently serves as a juror for local art shows. The Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California displayed 29 of her original pastel paintings in May and June 2007.