More about Frances

After many years as a landscape painter, I have become interested, once again, in painting people. My experience, in 2018, of creating a mural for a health clinic in Burundi (East Africa) probably had something to do with the change. My mural depicts the people of a rural village coming together in a panoramic landscape, with their hoes, and carrying rocks and bricks on their heads – all this to prepare the ground for the building of a much needed health clinic. The mural’s 70 figures, based on photos, were too small for much individualization, but upon my return from Africa, I began to look for opportunities to paint live human beings. I joined life drawing groups. I also began looking at a book of Rembrandt’s drawings and etchings of Bible encounters. Using some of these black and white images as springboards for full color paintings has become a very challenging, possibly too ambitious, project. And, although it is ongoing, I have also been enjoying painting portraits of friends and family.