Artist's Items:
The French Fable - Gene Franks
Gene and Jane live high on the Ozark Plateau in a storybook cottage in a magical place of lakes, foot bridges, lampposts, and brick sidewalks. They are a husband and wife team and blend their gifts to write stories and to paint landscapes, people and animals. Gene is the artist and he tells his story here.
“I am a classically trained artist from the ‘old school’ and studied under the tutelage of an old Czechoslovakian teacher who trained us in the methods of the Old Masters. Then, Andrew Wyeth became my ‘mentor’. I studied his work for years. Out of all that came my passionate devotion to mastering the mediums of gouache (opaque watercolor), transparent watercolor and graphite pencil using imported watercolor papers and permanent paints.
“Having painted all subjects, and after selling my paintings in West Coast galleries for many years, I returned with my wife to my home state of Arkansas in 1991 where I have been capturing the beauty of the landscape, the interesting character of the older people, and the delightful variety of their farm animals, ever since. Now, with over 150 paintings under my belt, I have a growing passion to encourage parents and others who care for children to place beautiful, quality art in their rooms, and to help the children appreciate classical paintings that will last for all time. It, I feel, is essential to enrich their lives.”