what people say...
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"Click on for Audio Review of the FOOD FOR THOUGHT Exhibition at Propeller by Art Critic Lupe Rodriguez, CBC RADIO "Here & Now" (click to hear complete review)

DOUBLE DATE
"It is all great theatre. Here is an ever evolving story that asks us as audience to be co-creators of meaning for these two paintings and to reflect on what their story reveals to us about ourselves and the power of seduction. We are invited to not just view the paintings, but to step into their frames and risk being seduced."
D. Boyce, Toronto
(click to read complete review)

"Wonderful ambience, sets, and of course the performers. A great joy to be here."
P. Dreiser, Toronto

"Totally surprising performance! This made the art come to life - literally".
M. Donahue, Toronto

“Ferdinands’ erotically charged vignettes are set in the haute couture world.
Nostalgia, irony, satire and parody are weapons she has in her arsenal.”
Robert Reid, Art Critic, The Record Newspaper
BY APPEARANCES Exhibition, University of Waterloo Art Gallery
(click to read the complete review)

“Contemplative, surreal and unsettling, Frances Ferdinands’ paintings provoke the viewer to consider the isolation and obscurity hovering not only above and around
the vulnerable vessel, but which also surrounds humankind as we struggle to
navigate our daily lives.”
Carrie Helm, Exhibitions Coordinator ADRIFT Exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery

“You have always been a good painter with interesting ideas – a rare commodity
in this era of mediocrity.”
Joan Nicol, Art Consultant, Toronto

“It was an honour to have the ADRIFT exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
The response to the show was very positive”
Julianna Hayes, P.R. Coordinator, Kelowna Art Gallery

“Frances Ferdinands’ work is characterized by technical facility, richness of colour and breadth of vision. Whether drawing inspiration from the natural world, the annals of art history or interior reflections, Ferdinands creates vistas that engage and draw the viewer close. Her work is compelling and full of detail – symbolic and technical. She addresses subjects of profound universal significance yet does so through personal metaphor and imagery. Engagement with Ferdinands’ paintings is always a satisfying and enriching encounter.”
Virginia Eichhorn, Curator, Canadian Clay & Glass Museum, Waterloo

“Her work has always been thought-provoking and challenging to the viewer” David Taylor, Curator, Gallery Lambton, Sarnia

“Ferdinands pushes realism towards the edge of surrealism. Walking this edge gives her work a sense of intrigue and dynamism.”
Mark Vander Vennen, Art Critic, Cobourg Daily Star
CONTEMPORARY REALISM Exhibition, Art Gallery of Northumberland

“Three of Frances’ paintings hang in our home. Our favourite, a Hawaiian-inspired landscape has a tremendously calming effect. Her use of light and softly-dissolving colours creates a beautiful tropical ambience in the room.”
M. & E. Allen, Private Collectors, Toronto

“She (Ferdinands) brings to painting an intelligent, exploratory consciousness”
Joan Murray, Director/Curator, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa

“The paintings in Frances Ferdinands’ Embodied Ideals series are ambitious and
heavy with sociocultural implication. While the images, rendered in Ferdinands’ lush, bold style, are worthy as aesthetic achievements alone, the coupling of these images, taken from classic paintings and magazine ads, produces a recombined
and newly relevant mix of meaning and composition to the work.”
Rebecca Moda, Exhibitions Coordinator, EMBODIED IDEALS Exhibition,
Buffalo Arts Studio
(Click to read the complete curatorial statement

Ferdinands was named as “one of the Hot Talents who are creating excitement among dealers and consultants across Canada.” Chatelaine Magazine

“During a showing Frances had in Toronto, we fell in love with "Bed". We had the perfect spot picked out in our home where it has proudly hung for several years. My husband commented how much he also loved "Seeking Sanctuary" and "Precious Cargo". A year or so later they were both hung with pride in our home. From the entrance into our home, you can see all three paintings on different walls. It is a very dramatic yet calming effect. Our last purchase was "Quarry;Quandry." This just finished the collection off perfectly. Our family and friends have taken quite an interest in the paintings and their meanings. Frances is a talented artist and a wonderful person to deal with. I'm sure more of her paintings will be hung upon our walls one day. T. & J. Small, Private Collectors, Midhurst, Ontario