Mar 27, 2020
In this episode, I talk to the artist Francis Sills. We discuss his move from NYC to South Carolina and how this impacted his work, working from observation and how teaching and family play into his life as a painter. Francis earned an MFA from Parsons School of Design, New York, NY and a BFA from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. His work has been exhibited widely throughout the United States and he has been included in recent group exhibitions at Dutiot Gallery: Dayton,OH; The Painting Center: New York, NY; Manifest Gallery: Cincinnati, OH; Wright State University: Dayton, OH; Blue Mountain Gallery: New York, NY; and Santa Clara University: Santa Clara, CA. He is represented by Horton Hayes Fine Art in Charleston, SC and Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Larchmont, NY and Kent, CT.
Francis Sills’ paintings are grounded in the perceptual-based, realist tradition. The artist works directly from observation in nature. In dealing with the intricacies and challenges of working from observation and the sustained experience of intense, visual scrutiny, the artist comes to understand and know his world. Sills’ paintings are dense and subtle, revealing specific nuances of color, light, and form. Often, the underlying geometry and architecture of the composition are apparent in the application of paint, the artist’s analytic thinking about structure and his methodology still evident in the finished work. Sills’ most recent series of paintings and drawings depict the evolving landscape of his garden and home in South Carolina. The work is at once personal and universal, an observed world of nature, home and family.
RESOURCES:
Online Exhibition-Drowned Neon Rose
Observations on Applying to Juried Shows
Kenise Barnes Fine Art https://www.kbfa.com/artists/52-francis-sills/overview/
Horton Hayes Fine Art http://www.hortonhayes.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=306