Fran White
Please can you tell us about your background and upbringing?
I am the oldest of 4 children from a loving & privileged background. We lived in in large house in the Norfolk countryside.
Did you make art as a child?
At my first school I was encouraged to illustrate projects with drawings & cut outs.
What is your earliest memory associated with art?
A painting of my Guinea Pig, Pongo, done when I was about 9.
Please could you tell us who or what has had the most significant influence on you as an artist.
This has to be Emily Ball who started an independent art school - Emily Ball at Seawhites - based practically on our doorstep in Sussex. Since 2004 I attended annual painting courses taught by Emily & other Sussex based tutors as well as countless short courses with visiting tutors from France and all over the UK. This has brought many wonderful opportunities - meeting and working with so many different fellow artists who live in England and further afield. One course I joined was in the Algarve.
Please describe your practice for us in 3 adjectives
Committed, investigative, engaged.
Where are you finding your ideas and inspiration for your artwork right now?.
Close to home in Sussex, when staying in Burgundy with our daughter and granddaughter & on Cornish holidays.
What motivates you?
Becoming unexpectedly hooked by a subject, such as Chained Libraries.
Which item in your studio could you not live without?
A free standing circular mirror bought in Habitat in the 1970s, used to paint self-portraits as well as to look at reflections of my artworks
Please can you talk to us in detail about the creation of one piece of your artwork.
‘ Sunspot’ whose journey started on holiday in Cornwall when I spotted Edie reading a book on a bench. This evolved from an original photograph which I re-created as water-colour, collage, pastel, & mixed media on a huge variety of backgrounds including cardboard, and linen fabric glued on to a wooden board. ‘Sunspot’ itself has a cutout space into which I placed a block printed piece of cotton done several years ago. The whole series is now a digital exhibition called ‘Parklife’.
Please could you tell us about the piece of artwork you are most proud of, and why.
‘Naughty Dog’ - At the time of its creation I was obsessed by photos of Amy Winehouse who appears on the right of the canvas, her shirt is an up-cycled piece of washed artisan linen as is the roller blind & toggle on the left. The canvas is re-purposed and previous marks, an added cup of coffee & a terrier dog give weight to the composition. The name was arrived at by collaboration with my younger brother and his, now deceased, wife.
What’s the best thing about being an artist?
The inspirational gifts that appear almost unannounced.
And the worst..!?
The continual little judge on my shoulder that causes self-doubt.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to make a living out of art?
Follow your heart.
What is the most important thing to know about you?
I am diligent
Please tell us one unexpected thing about yourself.
I can sing if no one is listening!!