MY STORY
Hi my name is Francine Dunigan. I live in Kennett Square Pennsylvania, with my Husband John, our teenage daughter Mary Grace and our lazy dog Sunshine.
I have always loved creating art. I studied art in High School and College. I have a BFA in graphic design. Over the years I have gone through many stages of creating. I have painted murals, furniture, created logos for people, I also built my husband's website for his business. I would say it is more about the creating process that I love than the actual finished product. Not that I don't like the finished product, but I usually want to get started on the next project by the time I finish the previous one.
A few years back when reading the introduction to the book "Sketch" by France Bellville- Van Stone, she talked about when she was a kid building legos and how thrilling it was to be building and creating a house but by the end the thrill had evaporated and she would pull it all apart and begin again. This completely hit home with me and I never realized that I did the same thing. If I ever had a project I was working on I would sort of come off a high when it was over. It could really be anything, working in my garden, a small house project or in my artwork. It was more about how my brain wanted things to look when it was done and I love the creative process of making it a reality.
More recently my inspiration has been about color. Bold color has been my focus however sometimes I force myself out of my comfort zone and explore subtle color as well. I started my collage journey by experimenting with alcohol inks. I have to be honest they did create bold color but I never really got the hang of it and it was very smelly. I did not want to fill my home with a lot of fumes. I still do use them on occasion but the windows need to be wide open and in the winter time it just becomes a hassle. I then found the gel press plate. With the gel press plate you can create a numerous amount of effects in bold colors using all sorts of materials. Suddenly everything you look at becomes a possible texture for your plate. I love taking items from my garden and creating various textures in bold colors on paper. My problem then became what do I do with all those gel prints? Over the years I have played with various ways. I follow many artists on Instagram, but two of whom probably influence me the most and who I have learned the most from are, Jane Monteith and Elizabeth St. Hilaire. Both of whom I love but have completely different styles. Rex Ray was another artist of whom I have admired for years. He too created his own papers and then would create such bold and graphic pieces of work that are just stunning.
Check out my shop and Instagram page to see what I am currently working on. Thanks for stopping by to learn a little bit about me.
