Frances Bell

🇬🇧 RP. ROI. Draper Grand Prize & Peoples Choice Award 25. William Lock Award. 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize Portrait Soc of America. Valeria Sykes Award.

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

This portrait of Sir Nick Clegg was unveiled this week at to celebrate Nicks time in politics.
Nick's portrait joins a fabulous host of others depicting liberal politicians dating back to Gladstone, in the remarkable surroundings at the club in cent...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

My husband Rob with a still life of pheasants.

Having looked recently at some past and present still lives, I was struck with how they often dramatise so theatrically what we eat. With all the beauty and pathos of nature, larger narratives seem heig...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

This painting has meandered through many phases.
I started by wanting to do a more general figurative/still life painting that would set the pheasants up on a bright white stage like dramatic actors.
I was thinking of among others, who can make a th...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

Check out the latest episode of Undraped Idols with

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

So honoured to have been invited to show my painting Seasons: My son, my Husband and my Father in law at in their current exhibition

Realism 26: Figura Y Tiempo

There are so many artists I admire with work in this show, and the MEAM is such an ama...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

A larger piece from a trip to Mallorca in the summer. My continued interest in water is upper most here, with a sense of heat, movement, and enjoying placing figures among the natural elements.
I'm slowly building work for an exhibition in early 2027...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

A recent drawing commission of this lovely little person. A few years after I drew her brother, so a satisfying effort to add to the original.

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

It's been quite the year.
I always enjoy looking back over the previous 12 months but this year has been especially good to me.

This platform remains, despite its flaws, a very hospitable artistic community for which I'm extraordinarily grateful.
Wi...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

Dr Susan Day. An inspirational lady, an internationally acclaimed ophthalmologist, a guiding light and mentor in her field for decades past. To add to that she is a wonderful flutist and all round warm and welcoming person.
This was a painting to cel...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

Don't miss the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition at Mall Galleries, on until 12th December.

Always such a vibrant and diverse selection of work in celebration of oil paint, and its many wonderful uses!

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

A recent commission of two gorgeous siblings, who were so sparky and interesting to paint.
It's always a whole family collaboration when my subjects are small, and so often a rewarding one for me as the visitor into their little worlds.

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

This one is for those people who have asked me what I paint with, so if that's not for you, do scroll on!

A very basic overview of my materials when painting. This is a massive subject and so two minutes isn't really sufficient but it's a basic outl...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

A recent drawing commission of this lovely young lad.

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

OPENING TOMORROW!

The Distinctive Eye – Singular Voices in British Painting 11 - 12 November 21–22 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5LP

A year ago I visited and shared the idea for this exhibition, it has been a real privilege to work with them to bring to...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

These four paintings were invited by guest curator Mary Jane Ansell to take a place in The Distinctive Eye: Singular Voices in British Painting, at Panter and Hall, Pall Mall, 12th November to 21st November.

Apart from myself the show includes works...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

My daughter, standing on the cusp of her teens, with a head full of bewildering ideas and creativity. Half way to adulthood.
This is the latest of several portraits charting her growing up, and the changes have clattered past a pace, so, until next t...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

I have loved working for this family, with their style, hospitality and wonderful children - all chatting away to me in English (not their first language) with such ease.

We've kept a theme of interests suggested in these paintings, to link them, bu...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

A gallop through the painting I have in as part of the exhibition.
There's a lot I could say about this painting, it's a very poignant one for me. Which is why I was so delighted to be awarded an Honourable Mention as a finalist among many wonderfu...

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

The final chapters of this painting are ongoing. I have one more phase to go, but I can go back and show some of the various stages that have got me here.
I've had to massively simplify my explanation to be brief, so it's a whistle stop tour!

[Frances Bell @frances_bell_]

This is the second painting I've done for this lovely family in California, who have been so welcoming and inspiring to work for.
I've enjoyed the more focused and intense nature of this project, where the canvas got smaller as we went on. So often I...