1st Place Winning Entry, 2024 Animals Competition
Frances McMahon, House Hunting, watercolor.
Frances McMahon
Australian artist, Frances McMahon, creates brilliant realistic paintings of Australian birds in minute detail. "I've been painting birds since I was five years old," she says, "which is when I decided that would be my life's work. Since then, capturing the beauty of our native bird species has been my passionate obsession." Her medium is watercolor, with small touches of gouache, and it suits her well. "I've always painted with watercolor," she says. "It can be a difficult medium, but it allows me to achieve the extreme level of detail I strive for. It also creates a translucency it's hard to accomplish with other media."
Frances McMahon, Showing Off, watercolor
Her elaborate paintings may take weeks to complete, and she endeavors to include all of the important elements in each piece. "My greatest challenge would have to be juggling everything all at once," she says. "Namely, good composition and tonal values, capturing the character of the subject while maintaining scientific accuracy, and, a personal goal, striving to make the next painting better than the last." "The sheer beauty and perfection of nature is, to me, what I aim to capture," she says. "I think nature is the best teacher. By careful observation you can discover the most extraordinary and beautiful patterns that you may ordinarily have missed."
Frances McMahon, Tiny Gems, watercolor
McMahon became a professional artist in 2021. Her commissioned works hang in private collections in Australia, New York, Minnesota, and Ontario; she has been featured in several art publications; and she has won numerous awards — including from the Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art, a prestigious Australian art competition, where she was a Finalist in 2021, the Best in Show winner in 2022, and the Award of Excellence winner in 2023.
