Frances Cockburn
I paint what is around me – downtown Hamilton, nearby landscapes, and more recently, the people close to me. For rural paintings, I often work on location, while urban paintings and portraits generally develop in the studio from photographs or video stills.
Lately I've been exploring figures, portraits and swimmers. The figures in water feel like a natural extension of painting swamps and wet roads.
The act of painting tends to be solitary and private. Whether I'm painting beside a swamp or in the studio, the process, experience and outcome are quite similar. I am communicating visually through the application of paint on a flat surface.
About 15 years ago I starting playing with pinhole photography, a medium that suits my crafty and curious nature. I get to make cameras, take photos, develop the negatives and make contact prints. Even though the process is fairly simple, it’s a challenging art form that continues to engage and delight me.
Frances Cockburn lives in Hamilton, Ontario.