Frank Fitzsimons

Frank Fitzsimons, who has been painting under the brush name "Franfit", was born in County Antrim, Northern Ireland in the 1930’s and grew up in the seaside town of Bangor, County Down. The artist has painted all his life and is largely self taught. His style is heavily influenced by the great Irish landscape artists such as McAuley, Wilks and McKelvey. He painted alongside Maurice C. Wilks and Dennis Thornton during the early years at Bangor Art Club. He is also influenced by many visits to Kenneth Webb at his studio in Ballywalter. After teaching for a number of years Franfit went on to exhibit with galleries including The Magee Gallery, Ormeau Road Belfast and the Arches gallery, Newtownards Road. A number of his works were later reproduced in print form by "Boxmore Clealand" printmakers. Franfit’s work is always popular with visitors to Ireland and is featured in many private collections as far a field as the U.S. Canada and Australia.