Frank Francese,  NWS

"Welcome to my website!"

Over the coming months I will be updating much of information and images on this site.  Please feel free to check it often for the new information relating to scheduled workshops and to enjoy the new paintings.  Workshop schedules for 2012 have  been updated and 2013 have been posted. 

I have also redesigned the format of my Gallery pages to reflect the content of my workshops. New images have been inserted into each of these pages in a slightly larger size to give the viewer a better perspective of each piece while browsing my site.  Please 'click' on Gallery and Gallery 2 pages to see my most recent work.

       



Notes from the Artist..........

"Let's examine a change in style.......!"


"For the last couple of years I've been thinking of changing the direction of my painting.  For years I've been painting in strong, direct color, using abrubt color changes to create interest in my work.  In  September of 2011, I was teaching a plein-air workshop in Landgrove, Vermont.   For the plein-air classes I paint 11 x 15 inch paintings for the daily demonstrations.  I usually paint three to four of these smaller paintings each day for the class, spending 20-30 minutes on each one. 

For the last sixteen months I've been dealing with some health issues which tend to leave me very tired in the afternoons, especially when I'm teaching a class.  I found that by the time I got to the third demonstration of the day, I was so tired that I needed to find a way to save some time in order to finish the demonstration properly.  Normally I clean my palette between each demonstration.  This enables me to start each new painting with fresh colors.  I learned that I could save some time and effort by not cleaning and reloading my palette prior to the last demonstration.  Electing to use the colors that were already there shortened my day and led me to another very interesting discovery. 

Wow!!  To my surprise the little painting I began while using the previously mixed colors, started developing rapidly.  When I was finished, I had discovered a wonderful new direction in which to work.  I noticed that when using more grays, my smaller area of colors in the paper seemed to be brighter.  I came to the conclusion that the phenomenom I noticed was attributable to the excellent reflectivity of all the gray areas on the painting.

I am going to continue to experiment with this technique and depending on my evaluation of the results, will post the new gray paintings on the web as I complete them.  I don't know where this experiment will ultimately lead but you can count on me always returning to the use of bright colors, with or without the gray backgrounds.
  
 

     
          Peru, Vermont (11x15)                                                                Weston, Vermont (11x15)    
Image in Cheap Joes' Collection                                                                                                      


Landgrove, Vermont  (11x15)

                                                                                                                                                       
Additional 'gray' background images............. (11x15's)
 
               
       Enniscorthy, Ireland                                      Grand Canal, Dublin, Ireland


               
 York, England                                                    Weston, Vermont


The 'Watercolor Workshop" page offers an extensive description of the structure, schedules and subject matter explored during a Francese workshop.  For those interested in attending one of them, taking the time to read the material included on that page will make the experience even more enjoyable.





The Artist's email address has changed!!
Effective February 4, 2011 you can contact Frank at: 
ffrancese@bresnan.net