An Interview with Frankie ‘O -RAP 2012 Alumna-
Born in: Ballarat, Australia
Lives in: Bendigo, Australia
Career Ambition: To paint every day
—1. Who or what inspires your creative urges?
Looking at the work of current artists is a constant inspiration for me. I have an arsenal of artists I adore depending on the subject matter I am working with. John Boker is my newest addition, creating the most amazing still life and interior paintings, with a pastel palette of impasto mixed media deliciousness. I also love the work of Sara Hickey, who also uses a fabulous mixed media layered application, to create amazing goddess like creatures with mirrored faces draped in flowers and beasts. Urban Sketchers such as Liz Steel, Clare Caulfield and James Handcock Gulliver I also look to, as they can capture places with an incredible swiftness and character. Their work has been a major inspiration and turning point in my approach to drawing the places I have travelled, which is one of my biggest inspirations. My travels, especially in Europe and my time in Rome with the Rome Art Program have been a profound inspiration.
—2. What is your typical day like?
I’m not sure you want to know! It’s not at all glamorous, and now that I am a mother of two, it doesn’t always include a shower or art! If I’m lucky, I get a chance to check my messages and emails in the morning over breakfast. I try to reply to any interest in commissions or art sales. The rest of my day is spent with my two daughters, Florence who is 2 ½ and Lucy who is only 2 months old. Not much time there for creative endeavours other than sculpting with playdough. I try to post on my social media every other day with images of new work, work in process or promotions. This is usually a one handed deal while I nurse Lucy and watch the Wiggles with Florence. It’s not until the evening when the girls have gone to bed that I get any real work done. I usually jump between working on commissions and painting baby portraits, which is my sideline gig. I started a small business called Kiss the Baby in 2017, which gives me a steady income and an avenue to exploring my watercolour skills. While the paint is drying, I jump on the computer and develop my website, write invoices, update stock, and develop mock-ups to send to clients. My most productive hours are between 9pm and 1am.
—3. How do you manage to stay both personal and original in your creative endeavours?
Over the last four years I’ve explored so many creative styles, however, I’ve had to embrace my inability to choose just one to foster. My ability to experiment with multiple subject matters, themes, styles, and media is obviously one of my strengths. It’s what many people praise my exhibitions on, however it’s frustrating not to have a singular style that can be develop to which people say… ahhhhhh that’s a Frankie O. So, my constant movement, bouncing from one style or application to another, might be what helps my work stay original. As to personal… I like to paint what I love. I often pick images that tell a story. Sometimes it’s my story, sometimes its Greek Mythology. It isn’t always obvious, but I like to think the story also helps to make my work personal.
—4. What kind of jobs did you have before your career took off?
Before paying some serious attention to my art career I was an Art Teacher for 12 years. I taught Art in a small country school to both primary and secondary year levels. My job was always evolving and towards the end involved a lot of management and coordinating positions.
—5. What has been your greatest sacrifice that you have made for your art?
My wardrobe is forever splattered with paint. It’s a legacy of the creative impulse… when it strikes you simply must paint! No matter how many aprons I own, I still manage to get paint on my clothes! And I love my clothes!!
—6. What advice could you give to someone starting out in your field?
Create every day, no matter how small, each work is a step toward a successful piece of art. Be comfortable with the unsuccessful ones, in fact embrace them. My motto is you create nine unsuccessful drawings before you create one good one. So, get them out of the way! Continue to try new things and share your work in whatever capacity you are able. Social media is an amazing platform to get your work out there and receive feedback, which will help you stay motivated and grow as an artist.
—7. If you could become one of your works of art, which one would you choose? Why?
This is a truly strange question which I have never been asked before. Over the last four years I have been extremely prolific, so it is quite hard to choose one work. But if I must, I’d say a large acrylic painting I did of the Piazza di Spagna (120x 80cm). It’s one of my more detailed, finished pieces which captures the strong evening light cast through a crowd surrounding the fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. Why? it reminds me of my time in Rome. I remember sitting at that fountain in the 45 degree heat painting… then… what I thought was an impossible scene. I never thought I’d be able to paint it with confidence. And to see that I now can is so exciting.,. I love looking back on my journey and seeing how far I have come. Rome was such a major turning point in my path to becoming a practising artist.
—8. Any final thoughts/advise/comments/emotional outbursts?
Simply this… find what you’re good at (which is usually what you find enjoyable) and do it! Don’t wait for money, or success. Don’t wait for the perfect idea. Don’t try to be the artist you’re not or the artist you think they want you to be. Just do it, every day… for five minutes or five hours, or if you’re really cleaver, find a way to do it all day! Because a life spent doing what you love is a life spent well.
**And when you get good at it, bribe your friends with free art so they will babysit your kids, so you can go back and paint Rome one more time.
www.kissthebaby.com.au
Here is the video footage of the mural Frankie O did for the Bendigo Visitor Centre
https://www.facebook.com/ExploreBendigo/videos/1719103181484682/
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