Meet Frances Listou: Award-Winning Sculptor and Painter ~
Meet Frances Listou: Award-Winning Sculptor and Painter ~
Frances' Story
Frances Listou, as an artist, did not start carving until her husband, Erik, gifted her a hammer, chisels, and a stone. She said, “I started chipping away not knowing how or what I was doing. That sculpture sold! I named it Moon Struck (above). I was struck by what I could create. After that, I called myself a stoner; I don’t smoke...I carve rocks!”
When Frances discovers a stone that appeals to her, she may set it aside, sometimes for over a decade. She looks at it occasionally, or thinks about the shape and size, imagining what she wants it to become. She calls this the “work” part. Then it just happens! She will either see an image that will “fit” the stone or just start carving; now she is “playing”. Frances enjoys this direct carving method - without an image or model. She will chip, grind, and sand the stone until she is saturated and satisfied with the results.
In many of her stone sculptures, Frances intentionally leaves the borehole and the natural stone. She wants viewers to see the original stone as it was harvested, in contrast to the highly polished areas. Occasionally, a mold from a stone or clay sculpture is cast into a bronze piece. When not "stoneing", her attention moves to clay, acrylic painting, and ink.
As with most artists, they have always been! Of course, there was coloring, drawing, scrapbooking, and mud pies for Frances as a child growing up in southwest Pennsylvania. In her twenties, Frances attended the Maryland Institute College of Art. As a student, drawing and painting evolved, but pen and ink became her favorite. In her thirties, she moved "out West". She was introduced to Evergreen, Colorado, a haven for artists. Shortly thereafter, Frances was invited to Tom Ware’s studio, known as the “Warehouse Group”, where she discovered sculpting with clay. In her late forties and early fifties, she experienced getting stoned (no, not smoking!). Frances' husband gifted her an alabaster stone, a hammer, and chisels. Later, she attended many MARBLE/marble Symposiums in Marble, CO. Her craving for carving Yule Marble blossomed. A long-time interest in bronze came in her sixties when her brother requested a sculpture of his face for his headstone. Now, entering her 8th decade, retired from her 40-year business, she enjoys full-time art-making.
Frances’ Art Background
Frances’ Artist's Statement
Colorado inspires and brings me joy. Creating my art here since 1978 is a blessing.
My pleasure and purpose are ensured when I see someone, especially a child or a visually impaired person, smiling and playfully tracing the lines of my stone, bronze, or clay sculptures. I am struck by the power of the carving tools that allow me to change the Creator’s creation into my creation. It is exuberant! Art must be enjoyed by both the creator and the receiver.
My cabin studio sits on the edge of a wild-flowered, tall grassed, forested mountain park. As I carve stone, push clay, or paint, I watch herds of deer and elk, a few(?) bunnies and chippers, birds, and sometimes a lynx strolling among the tall pine and aspen trees or a coyote chasing a wild turkey up a tree; and, oh my, how can I forget the bear!
Frances' Toys
Frances carves stone using an air compressor and water tools to minimize dust and preserve the diamond blades and bits, as well as ensure safety.
These are some of her stone carving tools:
two-stage air compressor, air hose, hammers, chisels, diamond blades, buffers, sanding pads, sandpapers/pads, side grinder, air hammers, grinding wheels, water hoses, waterproof boots and gloves, dust masks, earplugs, eye and face shields, umbrella, lights, sun, and sunscreen, chalk, and markers, wax, sealers, and more!
Her paintings are acrylic on canvas or panel boards. She creates with any doodad she finds to use, including her designer eye. ;)
Frances’ Artist's Mediums
"Art must be enjoyed by the creator and the beholder."
As an artist who creates sculptures and paintings, Frances enjoys a variety of mediums, including clay, stone, bronze, acrylics, ink, markers, and various implements. She believes, "working in a single medium is restrictive to my artistic processes".
Every piece manifests its own unique style. Oftentimes, she is pleasantly surprised by the results. She finds it intriguing to explore new mediums, part of her child-like curiosity.