About
From a language teaching background and an MA in French drama at Bristol University in 1973, Frankie moved into setting up and running a special education unit for teenage mothers in Bristol. During this time she studied for an M Ed (Social Anthropology) and began her training as a counselor. Among other things, this led to teaching counseling/psychotherapy to adults at various levels and in a variety of professional fields. After 20 years teaching and working with young mothers and their families, working alongside social workers and probation officers; and overlapping this with studying then teaching counseling skills, she realised her artistic side needed some encouragement. She was already using drawings and sketches in her teaching to explain an idea or an aspect of theory and became aware of their effectiveness.
Frankie joined a Life Drawing class at the RWA about 15 years ago and hasn’t looked back. She began to use oils with confidence and was motivated by her first commission. Then by chance, she came across a tile factory in Briare, France, where the public had access to their spoil heap. She thought she would try making a mosaic and gathered as many bags-full as her arms and patience could bear.
She now buys directly from that factory and has been making mosaic tabletops, pictures, and panels (signs, numbers, symbols) for about 10 years. She continues her art training with Martin Lovell in his watercolour class. So now she divides her time between her private counseling practice, painting, and making and teaching mosaics. It’s a very happy combination.
