News

--> -->
 Tacoma Weekly--Fife Free Press--Milton Edgewood Signal
Published on Wed, October 20, 2010

Sharing Love Of Art

By Diane Kay
Special Correspondent

The concept for Frances Buckmaster’s art studio as a business was a long time coming. As she outgrew her studio space at home, she started scouting the downtown Puyallup area for larger spaces. Just one year later, Buckmaster’s studio is thriving. She credits her success with her undying love for art, combined with her strong work ethic, extensive commercial and fine art training, and her background in business and marketing. “Art is my keystone,” Buckmaster said. “I do not do art for enjoyment, fun or relaxation. It is not my hobby. To me, art is hard work that is deeply satisfying. At my core, I have always been an artist.”

Buckmaster describes herself as “a blazing extrovert,” explaining how being surrounded by others energizes her and feeds her in a way that nothing else can. “I do not want to work alone in my studio. That is why I decided to open up the space as a business.”

Programs she offers include a Monday morning group, where beginning to intermediate artists work on their oil or acrylic projects while being coached and mentored by Buckmaster.

On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, the studio holds figurative painting sessions. “We have professional models that hold the same pose for the three consecutive weekly sessions, giving artists nine hours to complete finished pieces of art,” Buckmaster said. There are a few openings remaining in both the Wednesday and Thursday night sessions.

In addition to her in-studio programs, Buckmaster coordinates a plein air program, which means painting outdoors. Her plein air calendar has included events in Puyallup, Tacoma, University Place, DuPont, Olympia and Enumclaw. Artists have painted cityscapes, parks, waterfronts and the Meeker Mansion at night. Four times a year, Buckmaster sponsors a “Sketchcrawl,” where artists, both experienced and inexperienced, gather in downtown Puyallup to sketch. This not only connects artists and their art with the community, but gives participants a chance to see downtown Puyallup businesses in various and new perspectives. A self-described “doggedly persistent perpetual learner,” Buckmaster enjoyed an illustrious and varied career prior to devoting herself full-time to her art. She has a degree in English, with minors in history and psychology, three years of post-graduate work in business marketing, as well as a master’s in divinity. She has worked in retail sales, as a commercial real estate broker, a marketing and communications director, a chaplain and a Unitarian minister.

Although it is hard to believe the warm and outgoing Buckmaster was once shy, it is true. “I was painfully shy when I entered seminary, but I learned a very important lesson from sitting with a woman in a hospital during her final hours,” Buckmaster said. “I learned from her that all I have to do is simply be exactly who I am and love people.” This pivotal experience allowed Buckmaster to put her shyness behind her and excel in the public requirements of her ministries. These lessons and these experiences have served her well, as it is her dynamic personality, as well as her artistic talents, that draw in the artists with whom she works.

Buckmaster is heavily rooted in the community. She has volunteered extensively with several non-profits, including the Crisis Clinic in Seattle and the International Partner Church Council, and was a member of the board of Helping Hand House in Puyallup for seven years. She is also an active member in the Puyallup Main Street Association and serves on its Design Committee. Buckmaster is involved with Valley Arts United in Puyallup, the Eastern Pierce County Open Studio Tour and Gallery 3, a cooperative gallery in Puyallup.


August 10, 2010---
Pierce College Continuing Education Instructors

Local artist France Buckmaster is known for her detailed drawings in pen and ink. An expert at perspective drawing techniques, she has done several commissioned drawings and paintings of local sites and buildings in the Puyallup and Tacoma areas.

-->
Auburn ready for second ArtRageous art festival  
Monday, 8/2/2010 2:22 pm  By SHAWN SKAGER  Auburn Reporter

On Aug. 7 Auburn’s Les Gove Park will again be the place to be as presents its ArtRageous, Artists in Action Art Fair.
 “It was such a success last year that it’s back by popular demand,” said Maija McKnight, visual and public arts coordinator with the Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation Department. “The focus is on diversity of art forms in the hope that people will come and discover new mediums that they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to try, as well as a diversity of age-appropriate activities.”
McKnight said this year’s event will feature an interactive installation piece called the “Travelling Arts Encampment” as the cornerstone of the fair. McKnight explained that the work, coordinated by Andrew Peterson, will feature tents “made of unsuspected materials” that will be placed around the park. “It’s fun and approachable, and people can get inside of them and interact with them,” she said. “And there will also be materials that people will be invited to use to create their own tents. In the park setting it’s going to be a fantastic assemblage of reinterpreted tents. And probably provide some shade, too. That should evolve throughout the day.”
ArtRageous will also feature the work “Plein Air in the Park”, coordinated by local artist Frances Buckmaster.“There will be 10 artists who will be throughout the park painting the scene throughout the day,” McKnight said. The artists will work in their respective mediums featuring the scene at the park as it unfolds and offering the finished works up for sale.
“I think it will be neat to see their inspirational view, there will be a lot of neat imagery of the new playground and the spray park,” McKnight said. “I think that will definitely be something that people can sit and watch and encounter them as they walk through the park.”
 “We’ll also have more of a stage presence this year,” McKnight said. “We’ll have a stage set up so some smaller community groups can present their work.” According to McKnight the stage will feature the Auburn Children’s Dance Theater, performers from the Tacoma School of the Arts, Pacific Ballroom Dance and the Samoana Dancers from the Hearts.
McKnight said that this year’s ArtRageous will also offer a wider variety of food vendors along with the usual booths that allow the public a chance to try arts such as woodburning, book making, spray paint stenciling and metalworking.
The event will also feature an artists market, a chance for people to purchase the art produced by the artists manning the booths.
In addition, a retail booth by Tacoma Art Supply will also be on site.
“That way if someone tries something they like, they can buy the supplies they need right there,” McKnight said.
McKnight said she hopes that this year’s event will be as successful as last year’s.
“It’s fabulous that there is such interest and support for it,” McKnight said. “Anything we can do to support the arts, whether it’s education or the artists out there trying to make a living,” McKnight said. “It’s a really fun event for people to come out to.”