I've followed Frankie Gardiner for a couple of years now on social media and I just love her dreamlike pictures- each painting seems to have its own sun.

Here's a 2 question interview- I love when she mentions that certain aspects in a painting show up on their own:

Laura Vahlberg: What is a typical day in the studio?

Frankie Gardiner: I like to have an idea to start with, so will often take lots of photos of the surrounding environment, inside, outside, or images seen on the internet. I might make some drawings also. Then I go into the studio with an idea. Turn on music, radio or tapes. The music is energizing. I start by mixing colors and then begin to paint. That can go on for a while, with breaks, then coming back to it. Clean the brushes at the end. Sometimes there are many points that seem like the end, and the brushes get cleaned multiple times. It is always refreshing to use clean brushes.

LV: How do you know when a painting is complete?

FG: I don’t know when a painting is complete. Sometimes someone interrupts me and I stop. Later on I go back and discover that was a very good time to stop. Other times I might ruin what I have painted and go on and on, ruining more and more. When that happens, it can be best to just stop and come back to it another time, another day. It seems a bit arbitrary what an end point is. You can actually keep changing and changing a painting. Sometimes it gets better. Sometimes it is a loss. Older paintings that don’t interest me anymore can make great grounds to start with. A lot of these decisions are intuitive and spontaneous. Sometimes you look at a painting and it seems complete. If you are aware, you stop.

I do have goals for completed paintings, but I find the surprises, the aspects that seem to show up on their own, can be the most interesting parts. So, even though I may start with a specific idea, I like to let that idea transform as the process evolves and allow what arrives to be there.

Frankie Gardiner's work can be seen in person at Galerie LarocheJoncas February 14- March 17, 2023, with an opening on February 24, 6-9.