Frances studied ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art and graduated in 1999.  She was selected for Talente in 2001 and has exhibited at SOFA in New York, SOFA in Chicago and Collect. 

In 2005 she held the exhibition ‘Surface & Shape’ at the Scottish Gallery.  This was her second solo exhibition at this venue and followed on from ‘Line & Form’ held in 2003.  In her new ceramics she is exploring the division and relationships between two and three dimensional space.  She has taken the idea of shape, a two dimensional construct,  as a means of exploring these relationships, using surface pattern to help describe, define and contrast large scale clay forms.

In a visit to Japan in 2005 she researched the nature and use of surface pattern in Japanese woven textiles and this formed the basis of her new pieces, moving from purely line based drawing into planes of rich surface embedded into the body of the clay.

She has won many awards including the Benno Schotz RSA award for Promising Young Scottish Sculptor and her work is held in many collections including the National Museums of Scotland, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In 1999 she worked for a year with pupils at Stewarts Melville College in Edinburgh to produce two ceramic wall panels which are now permanently situated in the sports centre.

She returned to Scotland in July 2006 after working as artist in residence at Regents International School in Thailand for the academic year 05/06.  Read about her experiences in her craftscotland residency diary.

She has been selected to represent Britain with five other ceramicists at the European Ceramic Context 2006 taking place in Denmark in September 2006.

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