Frances McMahon

{"Id":8848,"Name":"Frances McMahon","Biography":"\u003Cp\u003EBorn in Armidale NSW in 1965, Australian artist Frances McMahon has been painting birds since age five.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003EIndeed, it was at this tender age that she firmly decided that she was going to paint birds and since then has had an undying and passionate obsession in capturing the beauty of our Australian native species.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe has lived in Canberra for most of her life. Frances is entirely self-taught and uses reference material of her own. (Occasionally she uses reference from other photographers. Acknowledgement is always given when required.)\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe sold her first painting when she was fourteen, to renowned artist Paul Ashton Delprat, principal of the Julian Ashton Art School.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped over many years, her technique consists of airbrushed backgrounds, with the main work completed in watercolour and small touches of gouache. Using a minute brush, her elaborate paintings take between 13 and 297 hours to complete. Many of the details are so fine they may only be seen with a magnifying glass.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEnsuring the longevity of her work, only the highest quality materials are used, including artist quality lightfast paints and 2000gsm (8 ply) Rising museum board for the ground. This is an archival quality board, buffered against acid migration and deterioration and contains no optical brighteners.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAll works are professionally framed to the highest conservation standards, using archival quality 100% cotton matting and museum glass, UV glass or perspex, which cuts out between 70% to 99% of damaging ultra-violet rays.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer commissioned works hang in private collections in Australia, New York, Minnesota and Ontario, Canada.\u003C/p\u003E","Awards":"\u003Cp\u003E2024 1st Place WINNER Art and Color 365 Magazine Online Animals Art Competition, 2022 WINNER BEST IN SHOW Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art, 2023/2024 AWARD of EXCELLENCE Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art, 2021 FINALIST Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art,\u003C/p\u003E","HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":false,"HasRelationships":false,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":false,"HasLetters":false,"HasLibraryItems":false,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":false,"TotalArtworks":20}