Fran Brooks, Artist

Fran is an award winning, internationally collected artist residing in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, who paints in oils, acrylics and some mixed media.  Fran and her husband, Bill, live in a log cabin with their Border Collies, Sammy and Breagh, who have been the inspiration for many paintings.  Her greatest inspiration comes from the natural beauty in the surrounding mountains with the abundant wildlife.  Basically a self-taught artist, Fran has studied the works of noted landscape and seascape artists with her style evolving into realism with some impressionism.   

Her subjects include country and mountain landscapes, lighthouses, animals and wildlife, Border Collies, still life, botanicals, angels, seascapes, fantasy, birds and butterflies.  Fran enjoys starting with a captivating landscape, adding the appropriate animal or bird to complete the theme, oftentimes hiding a critter in her painting.  Although not a portrait artist, Fran will often include people in her compositions.

Born in Florida, she grew up enjoying many sports, learned to play and competed in amateur Jai-Alai at an early age, winning the amateur singles championship.  After moving to the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, the change of seasons with the beautiful autumns and spring times helped stimulate her creative nature toward art and painting. 

Her paintings are currently exhibited and for sale at Rutherford Visual Art Gallery in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, The Junction Coffee House in Lake Lure, North Carolina and Wild Birds Unlimited in Asheville, North Carolina.  Her paintings also hang in private collections in most of the 50 United States as well as Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.  One collector paid the artist a sincere compliment by remarking that she had hung Fran's paintings in her home to replace those of an internationally acclaimed artist. 

Fran is a member of Lake Lure Artists in Lake Lure, North Carolina, Rutherford County Visual Artist's Guild as well as several eBay art groups where she specializes in creating miniature artwork. Fran's painting "Loch Maree, Scotland" was recently published in the RCVAG Art Hop 2009 book by Tatiana Potts. 

"As an artist I strive to create a work that will give a positive visual emotion to uplift the mind and soul, to recall a happy memory or provide a pleasant visual experience." Fran Brooks 

RECENT ART AWARDS

NIBBLEFEST ART COMPETITION

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I am a proud member of ACEO, an eBay Artists' Group with over 3000 members.  ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals), are created in every medium and offered by a large group of self-representing artists on eBay.  They are 2.5 x 3.5 inches, are affordable, tradable, collectible, can be used in doll houses, framed or displayed on a small easel.  ACEO's are created by artists worldwide and offer an inexpensive way to acquire unique original art in a small format. 

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Caat Theme Week Awards

CaaT is the acronym for Complementary Art and Things.  This is an artist group from various backgrounds, creating in various mediums and styles, who support, promote, encourage and enjoy one another's art.  The pieces are as varied in styles and mediums as are the artists who create theme.  There is a different theme on eBay each month with trophies for most entries, highest sale and most unique bidders.  Below are some of my trophies.