Frances with one of her outdoor works, installed at a private residence in Silver Spring, Maryland
Inspired and influenced by her early surroundings of Latino art and Mexican culture in
bright colors, and evocative subject matter into her mosaics. Whether it is a representational series like “La Loteria” or abstract works on
furniture and sculpture these influences emerge in instinctive forms that reach out and grab the imagination of the viewer. Her large scale
murals beg the viewer to touch; to experience the mixture of materials: broken ceramics, textured and stained glass, mirror and found
objects. Each tile hand cut, the mosaics she creates are rarely flat in color or in relief allowing viewers to enjoy her work again and again,
always noticing something new. Frances delights in moments when someone who has owned a piece for years tells her that they’ve just
seen a new detail they never noticed before.
Frances draws inspiration from a vast array of art movements of late 19th and 20th century, including Pop Art, Impressionism, Surrealism,
and Art Deco. In addition to works purely of her own imagination, she enjoys re-envisioning works from these movements in tile: as Frances
says “Impressionist art is mosaic with paint!” The art of hand shaping each tile became Frances' artistic consciousness while watching
artist Jesse Trevino create a 10-story mosaic mural in San Antonio, painstakingly shaped each piece of ceramic. This hand cut
technique and mix of inspirations is what gives Frances’ art its disntinctive style.
Works by Frances Reed can be found in private collections in Washington D.C., Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. Along with her first solo
exhibit at Design Studio, LLC in April, Frances was a finalist in the Enclave Art Contest and exhibited at Artomatic 2009.