Artist
Frances Costelloe
Frances Costelloe was born and raised in North London. She has always been a maker inspired by her family’s skill in selling and restoring antique textiles and clothing. Working primarily in Indian ink on paper she uses free line drawing to revisit motifs such as the face, shells and the female form. 
Frances's Style
Both her grandparents were painters and this fostered an environment where art and creativity were always of high importance. Her Statues Series for Partnership Editions takes inspiration from numerous trips taken with her baby to the V&A and their walks up and down the British Sculpture Gallery. Revisiting this space she is able to reinterpret these classical forms within a more modern context using her signature Indian ink along with other colourful re-imaginings.
‘I have always found the V&A a great source of inspiration. When glazing ceramics I often look back on classical paintings and statues as references for my work. I enjoyed studying Classics at school and love all the secret meanings in the attributes and myths within these works. Having a small baby I found the statues a great source to draw from and the stillness of these pieces calming, which encouraged me to get back into painting’
Love Frances’ style but after something specific, why not contact us to discuss a bespoke commission?
"The simplicity of a black line has kept me coming back again and again to Indian ink brush drawing. I also love working with Ultramarine blue and am experimenting with working on different coloured papers as a way of bringing new hues and tones into my work. I am currently working on a way of combining pastels and ink and am revisiting the theme of flowers in the same fluted vase. I recently hosted a series of Indian ink drawing classes focusing on the key themes in my work the face and still life. I loved watching the room interpret my favourite objects to draw from such as my collection of scallop shells and the new addition my conch." - Frances Costelloe
AVAILABLE ARTWORKS
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Rainbow Harlequin Girl With Yellow Flowers Print
![Rainbow Harlequin Girl With Yellow Flowers Print | Frances Costelloe | Limited Edition Giclee Print | Partnership Editions]()
- Regular price
- £60.00
- Sale price
- £60.00
- Unit price
- per
Shop by Collection
Autumn Prints 2023
“This collection of three prints based on my original ink drawings have been specially for a hotel project in Paris by Beata Heuman. They are based on my summer flower drawings. Each year I emass thousands of plant and flower images on my camera. Any front garden, national trust home or even sandy dune is a source of potential inspiration.
Each of these drawings is in a single tone. The coloured ink echoing the coloured paper. The rusty one is an almost red so I see these as my primary coloured series. As a child, I loved the Ampthill Square estate high rise towers which I could see from my bedroom. One yellow, one blue and one red. You can also see them from the Heath. I loved their childlike palette and they still make me happy when I spot them.” - Frances Costelloe
Drop 2 - Summer 2022
Taking a break from drawing and painting for a few months my mind was drawn back to the shapes and colours of my local woodland. "Walking, running and watching I found my focus pulled away from the path and into the trees. Revisiting the theme of flowers and still life I have also created colourful pastels on bright large scale papers. Tulips steal my focus but other spring bulbs such as the daffodil have also been at home in my studio. Moving from flowers to the figure I became transfixed on this image of a girl after ballet. The simplicity of the lines of her body lent themselves to the smooth gliding line of the soft pastel on paper. Mr watercolour collection is the most ambitious of my recent work in terms of scale and subject matter. I wandered along the corridors of the National Gallery avoiding the cascades of tourists spilling out of the Raphael show. I found silence and space in front of Titian’s ‘Diana and Callisto’. Having studied Classics at school I am intrigued by the Greek and Roman myths and the symbols within their depictions." - Frances Costelloe
The Debut Home Collection
"I met Michelle Mtinsi through instagram after asking if anyone knew of any London based ceramacists. We met at her Lambeth studio to discuss our joint project and instantly connected over our mutual love of scallop shells. She works so beautifully by hand throwing her delicate clay pieces. It was such a pleasure to come and glaze them with ideas I have been dreaming of for over two years. The themes of the face, tulip flowers as well as my interpretation of a pre-raphaelite sun and moon feature in this collection of ceramic art that can be hung or used as an everyday object." - Frances Costelloe, Frances & Michelle
Drop 4 - High Summer 2021
"These drawings are based on an imagined orange grove in warmer climates. I wanted to reinterpret Cezannes bathers but instead I have created compositions based on me and my sisters in classical poses. The idea of gathering oranges gave purpose to the ensemble of women and makes me also think of classical statues of the three graces. Tulips also feature as a regular theme in my work so I imagined them growing from the forest floor around us. The soft pencil used in these works reminds me of my work in soft ground etching. The way the graphite flows and slips is very similar in technique and the finished look." - Frances Costelloe, Three Sisters with tulips and oranges
"After limiting my palette to grey and white pencil I wanted to dive back into colour. Working in both watercolour, ink and coloured crayon I looked at some of the most beautiful bunches of flowers I had been in the presence of this Summer. To the bouquet and arrangements at my best friend's wedding with delphiniums, roses, peonies and daisies to irises which always remind me of my favourite artist Van Gogh. For other works I kept the palette monochromatic with the coloured background of the paper deciding the colour of the ink on top. I found the results suprisingly calming." - Frances Costelloe, Summer flowers in colour
Summer Limited Edition Prints
"Marylebone tulips on orange table cloth is Inspired by a bunch of tulips my son bought me when he visited his favourite London station - Marylebone. He is very into flowers and especially likes the bright and rainbow coloured ones. This was drawn in highly pigmented watercolours and water-resistant carandache crayons.
Rainbow Harlequin girl with yellow flowers ... is a reoccurring theme in my work. She is usually based on self-portraits and I like to adorn her with a frill collar. I wish I actually had this outfit to wear on a post-pandemic night out." - Frances Costelloe
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Rainbow Harlequin Girl With Yellow Flowers Print
![Rainbow Harlequin Girl With Yellow Flowers Print | Frances Costelloe | Limited Edition Giclee Print | Partnership Editions]()
- Regular price
- £60.00
- Sale price
- £60.00
- Unit price
- per
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Marylebone Tulips On Blue Table Cloth Print (Framed) Sold
![FRAMED Marylebone Tulips On Blue Table Cloth Print | Frances Costelloe | Limited Edition Giclee Print | Partnership Editions]()
- Regular price
- Sold
- Sale price
- £285.00
- Unit price
- per
Partnership Editions x MADE
We are thrilled to present our new collaboration with the leading online design and homeware brand MADE.COM on a line of exclusive limited edition prints, as well as a collection of original artworks that the prints were created from - available below.
Work by six Partnership Editions artists are included in the collection stretching from figurative to abstract, architectural to watercolours. Frances Costelloe has created three exclusive Giclee prints in editions of 50. The framed works will be available from MADE.COM and will come framed with a certificate from the artist, and the original artworks are available exclusively via us, below.
