Winifred - pastel abstract by Claire Devine

Seamus and I are done having children. Well, that’s the plan. We always say if we were to have a fourth we would want another boy. We love being boy parents. We wouldn’t change it. We wouldn’t have another to ‘try for a girl…’

But we have these little moments like this week - selling the cot that our youngest has decided he no longer wants to be contained in. Like giving away the last of my maternity clothes and baby blankets…and we wonder what a daughter might have looked like? Would we have named her Winifred or Clementine or Daisy May or Posy or Polly or Yvonne or Mathilda?

In life there are always ‘what ifs’ and with every choice we make there are other choices that get cancelled out or that we choose not to make. Little glimmers of other versions of ourselves that might have lived these parallel lives with different choices sometimes sparkle at the edges of our vision. They can look a lot like regret or relief or sadness…and when they do, it’s ok to feel those things at the same time as feeling joy, satisfaction, contentment, certainty in the choices you did make. You’re allowed to feel both. Life is always both.

Meet Claire Devine

Full-time artist | Chooser of Joy

An emerging authority in Australian art, Claire is also the chief doer at The New Devine. She’s the writer of thank you cards, packer of artworks, proofer of prints, editor of website pages and replier-to-every-single-message-on-Instagram.

The Granddaughter of celebrated French artists and potters, Claire was born in Toulouse, France and grew up in an art gallery space in Brisbane, Australia. A classical musician and high school teacher, she started painting as a way to pass the evening hours while her handsome Irish husband, Seamus, was away for work.

Claire took a break from her regular work when Seamus became ill and their infant son was diagnosed with partial blindness. This break allowed the family to reprioritise, focus on each other and give energy to Claire’s painting. As popularity for Claire’s work grew, The New Devine quickly evolved from a painting pass time into a serious, full-time business.

Claire’s art comes from a place of deep love for her family because of their circumstances with Seamus’s poor health and sons’ disability - the journey they went through (and continue to travel) to create contentment, joy and focus on family, love and togetherness all feeds and informs her artistic practice.

Imbued with vibrancy, colour and joy, The New Devine collection of works is an unbridled celebration of wild, harsh, surprising, diverse Australia, with an influence of Claire’s French heritage and Irish connections.

The New Devine family live between their home in Brisbane, Australia and their little farmhouse in Cold Country, Ireland. Claire loves coffee, vintage champagne, Dad jokes, yoga and long walks with her 'tame wolf' Nanette. Her husband, Seamus is chief dispatch manager, tea-maker, nap-taker and absolutely essential to keeping the artist happy and The New Devine humming.

The New Devine business was built on a foundation of altruism and Claire and Seamus continue to commit to doing good in any way they can—from slipping small gifts into orders to regular charitable donations and a commitment to sustainable practices.

Nothing makes them happier than helping to bring beauty and joy to families and homes everywhere.

This is us - The New Devine

At The New Devine, we love creating art that brings a smile to your face. Art that celebrates the wild, joyful spirit of Australia. Art for everyone.

Art is such a powerful universal way of communicating and when we see art we love we feel understood, seen, cared for, validated.

We work hard to make sure The New Devine art is accessible to anyone who has ever felt locked out of the art world or thought ‘art isn’t for me’.

That means our collection is full of joyful, unpretentious, modern pieces that bring a relaxed elegance to any home—no interior stylist required. Everything Claire creates is meant to be a timeless expression of joy that will bring smiles for years to come.

It also means that accessible pricing, easy-to-frame prints and ready-to-hang originals will always feature in our collections.

Our focus on accessibility doesn’t come at the expense of quality. Claire uses only the best paints and canvases to create her original works. We also work with local expert craftspeople to create the finest quality prints. For the first 4 years, The New Devine was operated out of the room formerly known as ‘the dining room’ until at the end of 2021 we were able to move the business into a small cottage by the sea - our very own art studio. We hand-pack and post every single order—right here from The New Devine studio —to make sure they arrive in pristine condition.

From our family to yours, we hope you find something in The New Devine collection that you’ll fall in love with—and that brings endless joy to your home.