Frances Karlsson
"I like to have a central character, a focal point that has unusual value, shape or contrast. My advice to students is to 'simplify and dramatize.' Most of all I want to show a mood and have the viewer feel something---nostalgia, contentment, action or intrigue. I like to show the commonplace like a gardener's straw hat tossed on the steps with an old gray bucket and packet of seeds, a country church. I like the white contrast against landscape, the steeple spire reaching toward clouds. I think that prayers are like steeples reaching for clouds."
Faith of Our Fathers
Watercolor
Original painting is Sold
Fine Art Giclee Print available
FK1- Small Paper Edition 5" x 14.75"
Medium Paper Edition 6" x 17.25"
Small stretched Canvas Edition 7" x 20"
Medium stretched Canvas Edition 8" x 23 “
Frances Karlsson
1925 - 2009
Born in Peoria, Illinois, Frances Karlsson paints from her farm studio in northern Minnesota. Trained first as a pen and ink illustrator she worked for Zondervan Publishing and Scripture Press until watercolor and pastel became her favorite mediums.
A well educated artist, Frances attended the American Academy of Art and has studied with many noted artists including Zoltan Szabo, Ed Whitney, Murray Wentworth, Martin Ahearne, Betty Lou Schlemm, and Douglas Dawson.
Frances Karlsson works from ideas generated from the family farm and surrounding countryside. From scenes of storm clouds chasing a farmer from the fields to the quaint Swedish country church to a milk pail temporarily holding a bouquet of daisies, she portrays her love of the natural beauty around her.
Frances is in demand as a teacher and is dedicated to passing on her knowledge to her students. She built a cottage on the farm to enable her to teach. She has won numerous awards and her paintings have been featured in various publications. She has taught or exhibited in more than 25 communities. Besides a series of limited edition prints, her work is also available in a note card collection. Her paintings are in numerous private and corporate collections, including The Grand Forks Herald, Lutheran Brotherhood Insurance, Border State Bank, Minnkota Power, Simmons Advertising, First National Bank, and Piper and Jaffrey.
The McBride Gallery is pleased to represent the work of this talented artist.
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Frances is a member of the McBride Gallery family on many levels. She is the mother of the gallery founder, Cynthia McBride. She is also the grandmother and first dynamic artistic influence for Abigail McBride.