Frances Hessels is an artist who paints mostly in watercolour and oils. She spent years teaching children to explore and observe the world around them and then to communicate observations in speech, writing and art.

Frances now has the luxury of time to do those things for herself.  She spends summers travelling, interacting with people and taking photos.  On cold winter days she enjoys reliving those experiences and recording them in painting.

She paints the world as she sees it.  Frances enjoys working with oils because of their vibrancy and texture, but her favourite medium for portraits is watercolour which has subtlety and transparency.

In the past two years she has concentrated on portrait and figure painting.  She still shows in the city in solo and in Edmonton Art Club sponsored shows.  She has been honoured to have been selected by jury to show in national and international shows sponsored by CSPWS and IWS. Her paintings have traveled to galleries in Toronto, Calgary, France, Bulgaria and Bali.

When she is not painting, Frances enjoys gardening, reading, playing handbells and participating in family activities.

Frances is always searching for new subject material and would be happy to consider commissions to paint portraits.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, University of Saskatchewan

Bachelor of Education, University of Saskatchewan

Adult art classes with the City Centre for Arts, Grant MacEwan, U of A, and Edmonton Public School Board.

Awards and Achievements

Card Alling Scholarship, 2013

Second place in painting category, show sponsored by Shell Scotford Refinery at the Art Gallery of Alberta,2013

Third place in juried show, Jake’s Gallery, 2014

First place in juried show, Jake’s Gallery, 2015

Best of Show, Edmonton Art Club juried show, 2018

Recent Shows and Exhibitions:

June 2017 -Solo show, Muttart Conservatory, Edmonton

June & July 2018 CSPWC/SFA exchange, juried show – Helson Gallery, Halton, Ont.

-Avignon, France

Sept. 2018 – 5 artist group show at McMullen Gallery, U of A

Sept. 2018 – CSPWC sponsored show, juried, Toronto

Oct. 2018 – Best of show award at EAC juried show, Edmonton

Feb. 2019 – EAC show, Cityscapes, Enbridge Centre, Edmonton

June 2019- IWS show by invitation, Varna, Bulgaria

Aug. 2019 – IWS juried show, Denpasar, Bali

Sept. 2019 – CSPWC Open Water, juried show, Calgary

Commissions:

Shell Scotford Refinery, 2012

Memberships

Edmonton Art Club, 2009 to present

Accepted as an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour CSPWC