About
Frances Featherstone is an award-winning artist. She has a BA (Hons) Degree (1st Class) in Fine Art from the University of the West of England, Bristol. Her studio is in Groombridge just outside Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
She works predominantly in oil paints. Guided by an appreciation for storytelling, narratives serve at the heart of her work, with which she seeks to fill her paintings with ideas and conceptual depth. At present, her creative explorations revolve around the interplay between figures and interior spaces, offering viewers a window into our intimate emotions that are entangled with the spaces that we occupy. Quite often in her work the figure sits reading or lost in thought and is both an object in the space but also the subject that gives it meaning. As Gaston Bachelard says, ‘Inhabited space transcends geometric space’.
Frances worked at the BBC as a Senior Designer for many years, and this has influenced her way of seeing, emphasising composition and design. She has found in her work that the ordinary can become fascinating by simply changing the perspective. She employs aerial perspectives to craft patterns seen from above that compress and flatten the spatial dimensions. These pieces venture beyond the constraints of conventional perception and seek to challenge our normal sense of space.
This year Frances was awarded 2nd prize at the prestigious ‘Royal Birmingham society of Art’ Portrait Prize exhibition showing selected work from the UK and internationally. She also has two paintings selected for the Society of Women Artists annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London in June and has exhibited at The Affordable Art Fair Battersea and Hampstead.
She won the ‘The Chair’s Purchase Prize’ at the ING Discerning Eye exhibition at The Mall Galleries 2021, selected out of 7.5k entries. She has also won Sky Arts Portrait of the Week twice (out of thousands of entries) for her paintings of Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo (who went onto purchase the portrait) and Dannii Minogue. In 2019 Frances was shortlisted ‘Artist of the Year’ by ‘Artists and Illustrators Magazine’.
2024
Exhibitions/Competitions
Shortlisted with 10 other artists for the Theo Paphitis Prize
2nd Prize Winner at the Royal Birmingham Society of Arts Portrait Prize Exhibition 2024
Winner of NG Art Creative Residency 2024 at Wells Art Contempoary
Fairfax Gallery 16th November - 16th December
Silson Contemporary Gallery. Harrogate. 12th October - 12th December
Wells Art Contemporary 3 - 31st August
Guildford Arts Summer Exhibition, Mill Studio 2-18th July
Fairfax Gallery. Tunbridge Wells. Summer Exhibition opening 15th June.
South East Open Studios. 14th - 30th June
The Society of Women Artists. Two paintings selected. Mall Galleries. 25th -29th June
RBSA Portrait Prize Exhibition. 7th May -8th June
Affordable Art Fair. Hampstead. 8-12th May with Nicholas Bowlby.
Affordable Art Fair. Battersea. 6-10th March with Nicholas Bowlby. Stand A4
Royal Society of Portraiture. Mall Galleries. Pre-Selected
New English Art Club Pre-Selected
2023
Exhibitions/Competitions
Royal Society of Oil Painters. Mall Galleries 29th November to 16th December
ING Discerning Eye. Mall Galleries 16 to 26th November
Kent Painters. 27-29th October. Kingdom Penshurst
Art Can Home exhibition. Brixton. 20-29th October
Silson Contemporary Gallery. Harrogate. October
Wells Art Contemporary. 4th August - 1st September
The Gallery at Green and Stone. 1-29th August
South East Open Studios. 3rd to 19th June
Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries 6-10 June. Two Paintings Selected
Bath Society Open, Victoria Art Gallery. 22nd April to 24th June
Affordable Art Fair. Hampstead. 11-14th May with Nicholas Bowlby
Affordable Art Fair. Battersea. 10-13th March with Nicholas Bowlby
Jacksons Painting Prize. Longlisted out of 11,225 entries!
Royal Society of Portrait Painters Pre-Selected
New English Art Club Two Paintings Pre-Selected
2022
Exhibitions/Competitions
Art Wave, ‘Celebrate Cuckmere Haven’ South Hill Farm 3-18th September
Art Escape. Tonbridge. July-September
Gallery Holt. The Transience of Beauty. 26th February to 5th April
Affordable Art Fair. Battersea. 10-13th March with Nicholas Bowlby
South East Open Studios. 3rd to 19th June
Royal Society of Portrait Painters Pre-Selected
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition Pre-Selected
2021
Exhibitions/Competitions
ING Discerning Eye 2021: The Chair’s Purchase Prize. ‘Trust Me’ selected out of 7.5k entries 11th to 21st November
Escape Arts Centre. Exhibition of limited edition Prints. December
Society of Women Artists. ‘Still Life selected. 21st September to 31st December. https://onlinegalleryswa160.oess1.uk/
Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral 28th August - 26th September
D C Contemporary, 23 Grafton Street. 2 paintings selected for the exhibition ‘Threshold’ : 6th - 22nd July
Figurative Art Now. Mall Galleries / Federation of British Artists. 2 paintings ‘Dower House’ and ‘Grounded’ selected for this exhibition celebrating 60 years of the FBA Online 7 July to 20 September www.mallgalleries.org.uk
South East Open Studios - 4th to 20th June
Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize Longlisted with my painting ‘Creature Comforts’. You can see my painting amongst the other selected works here:
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, with Nicholas Bowlby 8 - 11th July
2020
Competitions
FIRST PLACE SKY ARTS PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE WEEK FOR MY PORTRAIT OF BOOKER PRIZE WINNER 2019 BERNARDINE EVARISTO
FIRST PLACE SKY ARTS PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE WEEK FOR MY PORTRAIT OF DANII MINOGUE
Two paintings longlisted out of an incredible 5634 for Jackson’s Painting Prize 2020
‘Bargehouse’ pre-selected for the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition at The Mall Galleries
Painting pre-selected for the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition at The Mall Galleries
4 Paintings Pre-Selected to Hastings Gallery Open.
Exhibitions
12th - 15th March, Affordable Art Fair Battersea. Exhibiting with Nicholas Bowlby
28th - 29th March 2020, Art of the Weald, Old Big School Gallery, Tonbridge. Unfortunately postponed due to COVID-19
30th April - 3rd May, Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead. Exhibiting with Nicholas Bowlby. Unfortunately postponed due to COVID-19
5th - 21st June, South East Open Studios - Unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19
20th September, Live Interview 5.30pm as part of the Pure ART360 digital event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddtg8RtZLxA&feature=emb_logo
30th October - 1st November, Kent Painters. Online only. https://kentpaintersgroup.co.uk/
19th November - 31st December 2020, ING Discerning Eye. 2 Paintings selected, ‘Head in the Clouds’ and ‘How to be Alone’
25th November - 6th December 2020, Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Painting ‘Dower House’ selected. Online this year due to covid. https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/royal-institute-oil-painters-annual-exhibition-2020/dower-house
2019
Competitions
‘Artist and Illustrators’ magazine has shortlisted my painting ‘Piccadilly’ as part of the ‘Artists of the Year 2019’ exhibition at The Mall Galleries, London 25th February to 2nd March 2019. http://awards.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/aoty-2019-shortlist/
Jackson’s Open Art Prize 2019 Longlist. 2 paintings ‘Brothers’ and ‘The Art of Travel’ selected out of an incredible 5366 entries. If you want to see the selection and/or fancy voting (search the paintings name) for them click here: https://www.jacksonspaintingprize.com/longlist-2019-page-2
‘Max & Annie’ ‘Highly Commended’ in TALP 2109 Art Competition in ‘The Artist’ category organised by The Artist and Leisure Painter Magazine.
Royal Society of British Artists. ‘The Art of Travel’ Pre-Selected for the 2019 annual exhibition.
Society of Women Artists. ‘Material Girl’ Pre-selected for the 2019 annual exhibition.
Royal Society of Marine Artists. ‘Tectonic’ Pre-selected for the 2019 annual exhibition.
Exhibitions
Affordable Art Fair Battersea 6-10th March showing with Nicholas Bowlby stand A4
Affordable Art Fair Hampstead 9-12th May showing with Nicholas Bowlby stand F8
South East Open Studios June 2019
Olympia ‘House & Garden Festival’ 19th-23rd June 2019, exhibiting ‘The Heaven Series’
‘The Grand Finale’ is being exhibited at the Bannatyne Spa Hotel, Hastings 22nd September to 23rd November 2019
Exhibiting with Kent Painters Group at Sevenoaks 25-27th October 2019
London Ultra 2019, exhibiting 15 paintings at: Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, South Bank, London 31 October 2019 - 10 November 2019
The Old Truman Brewery 20-24th November with The Cult House
D Contemporary Painting Prize 2019; Selected to exhibit 3 paintings from 10 December 2019 to the end of January 2020 at the gallery 23 Grafton Street, Mayfair.
2018
Jackson’s Emerging Artist shortlisted by the Jackson’s judging Panel with 29 other artists out of over 1300 entries: https://www.jacksonspaintingprize.com/jacksons-emerging-artist-prize-overview
Exhibited 2 paintings at The Espacio Gallery, 6-11 March, 2018 for Women’s International Day.
Exhibited with Kent Painters Group at Sevenoaks in October 2018
Pre-Selected for Society of Women’s artists Exhibition at the Mall Galleries London
2017
Shortlisted for The Royal Society of Portraiture at The Mall Galleries, London
Selected with 26 other artists for the Art Gemini Prize Finalist Exhibition at Asia House, London https://www.artgeminiprize.com/shortlisted-artists-2017/
Exhibited at The Derbyshire Open Competition in Buxton Museum and Art Gallery 23rd June - 1st September 2017
Selected for a group exhibition by The Artists Pool at The Menier Gallery, London 13th to 23rd September 2017
Selected to exhibit at PIAF International Art Fair, London 30th September to 5th October 2017
Exhibited at 508 Kings Road, London with Gabriel Fine Arts. 2nd to 12th October 2017.