Frances Cockburn

I paint what is around me – downtown Hamilton, nearby landscapes, and the people close to me. For rural paintings, I often work on location, while urban paintings and portraits generally develop in the studio from photographs or video stills.

My impetus to make a painting comes from the everyday physical world - I see something that captures my attention, often mundane but surprising in its beauty. However, once I commit to a painting, it’s the paint itself that engages me. What I paint - the subject - is not irrelevant, but it becomes less important than the marks I make on the surface of a board.

My goal is to paint what I see, but not copy what I see. I am interested in creating a work that is realistic and recognizable, but I am not aiming for "high realism". I try to get at the truth of something, while letting the paint itself be the protagonist in the story. That may be through impasto, visible brush strokes, drips, scumbled layers of broken colour and abstract passages.

Water and reflections are a source of delight and fascination. That might be a swamp, a rainy road, a swimmer, even water in a glass -- any of these are fair game for a painting. While the subjects may seem quite different, for me they are strongly tied t...

BA, University of Guelph, Fine Art

2019 Gallery on 4, HPL, Hamilton, ON
2019 West Hamilton Artists Tour, Hamilton, ON
2018 Me You Gallery, Group Show, Hamilton, ON
2018 West Hamilton Artists Tour, Hamilton, ON
2017 "Recent Paintings", Flesherton Art Gallery
2014 “Locations”, Flesherton Art Gallery, Flesherton, ON
2013 Art Toronto (Odon Wagner Contemporary)
2013 “Paintings”, Carnegie Gallery, Dundas, ON
2012 “Urbanscapes”, Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto
2012 Toronto International Art Fair (Odon Wagner Contemporary)
2011 Toronto International Art Fair (Odon Wagner Contemporary)
2010 Toronto International Art Fair (Odon Wagner Contemporary)
2010 “Recent Paintings”, Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto
2008 “Wetlands”, Gallery 533, Toronto
2007 “Recent Paintings”, Flesherton Art Gallery, Flesherton, ON
2007 “Fresh Grounds”, Bean Cellar, Owen Sound, ON
2006 “Recent Work”, Canadiana Gallery, Creemore, ON
2006 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition; Juried Exhibition
2006 “Looking at Earth”, Sarah Beveridge Contemporary Art, Barrie, ON
2005 “Swamp”, Double Door Gallery, Anten Mills, ON
2005 “Double Take”, McLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON
2004 “Looking for Lucius”, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON
2004 “Double Take", Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, ON
2003 ...