What’s your favourite beach and why?
The south end of Manly Beach. I’m originally from Dubbo and didn’t grow up with waves, and most days I can ignore the JAWS soundtrack and enjoy snorkelling around the point.
Favourite place to eat, drink, hang out?
The Listening Station! Live music with like-minded peeps in my studio ArtBau is hard to beat.
The best thing about the Beaches?
Brookvale!
What inspired your cover?
Finding a dead Weedy Sea Dragon on Manly Beach. I “drew” the series of Weedies with scissors, cut out of a printed newspaper tv guide – perhaps a similarly endangered material.
What inspires your work in general?
I have a varied arts practice, but it all comes down to my love of nature, which is also how I replenish my creative spirit. With my current Weedies series, I’m playing around with the genre of landscapes. I also paint portraits and read tarot cards, so I am painting the 78 archetypes and archetypal journeys of the Tarot. I occasionally shake up my practice by taking on commissions, especially for people who really miss their beloved pet.
What is your favourite part of the process?
Well, it’s love-hate some days, but problem-solving is really exciting, both composition and fine-tuning colour combinations.
Did you study art?
After years of a self-directed arts practice – where I tried lots of different mediums – I studied at The National Art School 2009-11. The intensity of this atelier-based course led me to excavate who I was as an artist by experimenting with large and small-scale oil paintings of earthmovers on canvas. I discovered a love of printmaking and created an enduring drawing practice using ink and shellac and more recently newspaper cut outs. I graduated with the Paris studio prize, then lived in Berlin, where I got to know the great European art collections.
Which artists or other inspiring people, dead or alive, would you most like to have dinner with?
I really admire Matisse. He is a favourite painter of mine. I particularly love that he was able to transfer all that skill for painting and drawing into a completely fresh direction when he got sick. He let go of mastery and picked up a huge pair of scissors and began cutting out shapes from hand painted sheets of paper. Trusting his fresh creative direction.
What are you currently working on?
I’m creating Art Bau – my studio and gallery is an extension of my artistic practice. It’s all about opening up my studio to the community as a kind of creative clubhouse, centred around a conversation about creativity. My annual Artist’s Way 12-week workshop starts in January. The Listening Station is a collaboration with Hamish Stuart, a monthly improvised music night which includes an interview with the musicians. I also rent out my space to fellow artists.
What’s your favourite thing about what you do?
Having the freedom to be creatively self- expressed by deepening the mystery of being in the world.
What would you like to see in the future of the Beaches art scene?
I would love to bring painting into everyone’s everyday life – instead of an elite intimidating space. My studio gallery is more like a home away from home and seeks to encourage everyone to use their creativity.
What advice do you have for young or aspiring artists?
There’s a place for you within the arts, but you need to carve it out for yourself.
More from Frankie
Follow Frankie on Insta @artbau_by_frankie and visit the ArtBau website for all news on events and workshops.
You’re also invited to Frankie’s Weedy Sea Dragon Exhibition at the Art Bau Gallery in September: 1/1 Mitchell Rd, Brookvale
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Feature me
Are you an artist local to the Northern Beaches and want to be featured in the Tawny Frogmouth? Email mail@thetawnyfrogmouth.com.au