LATEST NEWS
Since October 2021, Frances is now working as a professional artist.
Her original paintings are exclusively represented by Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
October 2025
Spangled (Spotted Pardalotes)
WINS BEST IN SHOW
Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art 2025
2025 marks the 10th anniversary of this prestigious bird art competition that attracts many entries from around Australia, with the winner receiving $15,000 prize money.
Only 35 finalists were selected. The judge for 2025 was ARC Living Artist Gordon Hanley, a celebrated and world-renowned artist of some 35 years.
Frances says of her win:
"This is an extraordinary honour to be awarded the overall winner among entries of such a high standard. On hearing the good news, I think my screams of joy could be heard in Tasmania!
Since turning 60 in January this year, I can honestly say 2025 has been the most fortuitous and extraordinary year of my professional career."
This is the fifth year Frances has entered the Holmes Prize. She was awarded Best in Show in 2022 with Showing Off (Sulphur-crested Cockatoos).
She has also won two Awards of Excellence (2023 and 2024) and was a finalist in 2021.
Spangled, along with all other Best in Show winning artworks from previous years, are acquired into the collection Dr Gary Holmes, sponsor of the Holmes Prize.
Read the full article in the online edition of the Canberra Daily
Spangled (Spotted Pardalotes)
BEST IN SHOW | Holmes Prize 2025
58 x 36cm | Watermedia on 2000gsm museum board
Now available as a stunning open edition giclée print
With Holmes Prize sponsors Drs Margaret and Gary Holmes
2nd Place WINNER
ArtandColor365 Magazine
Pets Art Competition 2025
Frances is delighted to have won 2ND PLACE in the recent Pets online art competition. Hundreds of entries are received worldwide, with artwork of a very high standard.
Bella is a rare portrait of a non-avian subject! The painting is also unusual in that the format is square and the entire work is brushed in (with no airbrushing). The painting was a commissioned work.
Part of Frances' prize will be a four page feature in the Spring 2025 issue of ArtandColour365 magazine in both print and digital editions, as well as ongoing social media and online promotion.
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March 2025
Frances has been granted membership of the prestigious Art Renewal Centre and now holds the internationally recognised title of Art Renewal Centre ASSOCIATE LIVING MASTER (ARCALM)
After a rigorous and extensive selection process, Frances is one of only 14 Australian artists to receive ARC affiliation and title. Worldwide, only about 300 artists are currently ARC members, which means this is one of the highest achievements in the world of realistic art.​
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​From the Art Renewal Centre website:
ARC, having become the centre for artists, collectors, and scholars, is the defining force for Contemporary Realism and excellence. We have in our ARC family an exclusive group of artists whom we have classified into the following three levels of expertise:
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ARC Living Artist (ARCLA)
The artist has dedicated themselves to becoming a realist artist with the wish to express our shared humanity through the visual arts. In addition, an ARC Artist™ has shown competence and understanding in all of the basic building blocks of great art, these being for a painter: accurate drawing, compositional sensibilities, effective use of lighting, the technical ability to use modeling, glazing /scumbling, perspective, tone, hue and successful emotional expression. For a Sculptor: accurate representation of 3 dimensional objects, compositional sensibilities in 360 degrees, the technical ability to create an accurate finish to the surface of the sculpture, successful emotional expression.
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ARC ASSOCIATE LIVING MASTER (ARCALM)
The artist has dedicated themselves to becoming a realist artist with the wish to express our shared humanity through the visual arts. In addition, an ARC Associate Living Master™ has shown significant skill in all of the building blocks of great art as defined in the ARC Artist™ description above. They have further developed their skills, experience and body of work to the point where they are in striking distance of becoming a full ARC Living Master as described below.
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ARC Living Master (ARCLM)
The artist has dedicated themselves to becoming a realist artist with the wish to express our shared humanity through the visual arts. In addition, an ARC Living Master™ has mastered all of the building blocks of great art as defined in the ARC Artist™ description, creating fully professional works of art, as well as some identifiable masterpieces. Beyond that, they have successfully created a body of work which demonstrates accomplished facility in their craft that compares to the masters of prior centuries. Their work demonstrates strong, reliable, poetic sensibilities which intertwine great universal subjects, powerful original compositions and mastery over all aspects of the craft, working seamlessly to enhance the chosen subject. They repeatedly are able to "suspend disbelief" in the viewer eliciting empathy which is rooted in our shared humanity.​
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WINNER
Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art 2024
Frances is delighted to announce that Rise and Shine (Cockatiels) has won an Award of Excellence! Only four such awards were given, along with the major prize. 40 paintings were selected for inclusion in this year's Holmes Prize, with the standard reaching higher levels every year.
This prestige competition attracts more entries every year of a very high calibre. It is fast becoming the equivalent of the Archibald Prize for bird art!
ARTIST STATEMENT
One of the most unforgettable experiences of my life was a recent trip to the NT on a guided bird photography tour.
Rising at the crack of dawn, we waited patiently as flocks of cockatiels alighted high up on a gnarly-branched tree. I've never witnessed these birds in the wild, and it was a breathtaking sight to see so many.
I hope the resulting painting leaves the viewer with the same feelings and sense of wonder I experienced that day.
Cockatiels are popular as a caged pet but I feel they are happiest when flying under a cobalt Australian sky.
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Rise and Shine (Cockatiels)
Award of Excellence | Holmes Prize 2024
60 x 51cm
Watercolour on 2000gsm museum board
Now available as a stunning open edition giclée print
1st Place WINNER
ArtandColor365 Magazine
Animals Art Competition 2024
Frances is thrilled to receive notification that her online entry House Hunting (Eastern Rosellas) won 1st Place! Over 600 entries were received worldwide, with artwork entries of a very high calibre. A win such as this means her artwork will be seen by a wider audience worldwide.​
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M A R K & F R A N C E S
2 7 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4
I'm delighted to announce my marriage to the love of my life, Mark Norton!
Mark was my classical guitar music teacher back in 1988. There were no "sparks" then, and our lives went on separate paths for nearly 3 decades.
After a chance meeting on FaceBook, love blossomed for me and luckily it blossomed for Mark, too!
I am now legally Mrs Frances Norton, but I will continue to sign my paintings and run my business as Frances McMahon.
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WINNER
Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art 2023
Now in its 7th year, the Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art is sponsored annually by Sunshine Coast dermatologist Dr Gary Holmes and his wife, Dr Margaret Anderson.
This is a major art prize, and the only one dedicated exclusively to Australian birds.
After a record number of entries, Frances' painting House Hunting (Eastern Rosellas) was just one of only 40 finalists selected.
Frances is delighted to have won an Award of Excellence. Only 4 paintings received such an award.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The guttering and eaves of the unit where I live are in dire need of a spruce-up. However, the local Eastern Rosellas don't seem to mind, as they are often observed chewing away at the rotting wood in order to make a nesting cavity.
Art often imitates life. At the time of painting this, it so happened that my fiancé and I were also looking for our forever home and have also been seen house hunting!
I'll always fondly remember and miss the friendly chattering and brilliance of these lovely birds which brightened up the greyest of winter days.
House Hunting (Eastern Rosellas)
Award of Excellence | Holmes Prize 2023
34.6 x 41.4cm
Watercolour on 2000gsm museum board
Now available as a superb Limited Edition Giclée Print
