MY FAVOURITE LOOK by Ali Howard, Sunday Herald 25/01/09

Interview by Ali Howard

Photograph by Kirsty Anderson

Frank To, fine artist

I've always been into post- Victorian/ 1920s fashion, as reflected in the style of my bag and shoes. I like the gentlemen image. There's no point looking like a behemoth with paint on my clothes; I maybe an artist, but I still know how to present myself. So I have a casual- smart look that works both for attending meetings with people and painting in my studio. I like to shop at Zara and Gap as their sizes fit me well, and H&M do nice textile fabrics in shirts. But stuff in charity shops can also catch my eye

My sister Florence made this shirt for me for my birthday. She's a Masters graduate of Fashion at Glasgow School of Art and is currently making a new collection of menswear clothing. This shirt is based on the idea of metamorphosis, the idea of "changing" or "mutating" from one form to another. I like it as it's quite loose, but elegantly made.

Even when I was at university, I dressed smart. This also means that the bag has to be right for me- smart and functional. I found this bag on eBay. It was fierce bidding as it was a vintage item. I stayed awake the entire night making sure I would win. Luckily, the guy bidding against me realised I wasn't going to back down and gave up.

I bought this waistcoat from Zara as something smart for my show opening. It's not too confining and it's cool to wear.

This TAG Heuer watch was given to me by my mother on my 21st birthday. I think my mother knows that I've got conservative taste. The memory that it was given for my 21st birthday makes it more special.

I'm always working in a rough- floored environment, so whenever I kneel down, there's a strong possibility that I'll encourage holes in my jeans. After art school I realised the more money I invested in jeans and trousers, the more robust they'd be- and that I'd save money in the long term. I bought these Levi's jeans a year ago and they're still going strong.

When I was travelling to London a year ago, as I got off the train the stitching of my shoes broke, Luckily I was staying close to Portobello Market. I went to find some good cheap shoes and immediately fell in love with these boots. They're robust as they're made of old leather.

For more information, please visit the official website of Frank To Fine Artist.

Radio Clyde Interview with Frank To 09/01/09

Interview by Rob Waller of Radio Clyde. Officially aired 09/01/09

INVESTMENT IN ART PAYING OFF by David Oliver, The Extra 15/01/09

EVERYONE's pocket has been hit by the credit crunch.

Be it the collapse of a popular high-street brand, the loss of money through bank collapse, or just the soaring cost of living.

Well, except one young Newton Mearns man.

Artist Frank To has seen the price of his work escalate - despite the apparent tightening of purse strings.

He's threatening to go from strength to strength, all on the back of economic instability.

Frank (26) explained to The Extra: "Last year I donated two paintings to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. At the time they were worth about £750 each and bidding started at £200. Now prices, for the same pieces just a few years on, are more than £2,000 each.

"I've been exhibiting for eight years now. When the markets were quite stable, my work was selling for £300 max, now it's more than six times that and more and more galleries are looking to pick up my work.

"People are always on the lookout for the next set of Glasgow boys, the new generation of up and coming artists."

With bank savings only guaranteed to £30,000 investors need somewhere safe to stash their cash during a recession. Frank believes that the economic downturn will benefit to the new batch of artists as more investors cut their losses in the stock market and look at alternative uses for their cash.

He added: "Until the last recession, Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin were unknown, then, at the end of the 80s they rose to fame. It's the same this time around. No-one in there right mind would put more than £30,000 into a bank in case it went bust. So what else is there with a stock market in collapse?

"More and more people are viewing art as an investment. Damien Hirst's Shark was initially valued at £25,000 - now it's selling for more than £1m."

So, as painting and economics come to an unlikely collusion, what other financial advice does Frank have for would-be investors?

"When people ask me about buying paintings I always tell them, it's more important to buy something that you enjoy. There's no point in wasting a piece of art you don't like by spending a lot on it, for it not to be displayed."

*For more information, please visit the official website of Frank To Fine Artist.

ARTISTS WORK ON SHOW by The Courier, 02/12/08

A DUNCAN of Jordanstone Art College graduate has returned to Dundee to exhibit at the Queens Gallery Christmas Show.

Frank To, who graduated with a Masters of Fine Art degree, is exhibiting a selection of his latest work.

His latest exhibition follows a successful showing at the Edinburgh Art Fair.

"Frank's Striking figurative images have featured in various of our mixed shows, leading to our featuring a larger body of his work in a successful exhibition in January 2008." Gallery director Joyce McGlone said.

"Not only is it a pleasure to hang Frank's work in the gallery for our customers to enjoy and purchase, it is also a delight to work with a talented young artist who has a completely professional approach to the business of art."

Frank (26), who now works in Glasgow, has earned international recognition as a leading contemporary figurative painter.

His work has been purchased by Star Trek's Patrick Stewart and hangs alongside Picasso and Warhol in private collections in New York.

The Christmas Show runs until December 24.

For more information, please visit the official website of Frank To Fine Artist.

COME TO By Homes Plus Scotland Magazine, Nov- Dec 08

COME TO

The Kilmorack Gallery's annual Christmas exhibition features the work of Glasgow based artist Frank To. The Beauly based gallery used to be an old church before it was completely refurbished. At 26, To is already winning an enviable reputation for himself as a contemporary figurative painter, having already established a loyal following, including a number of high profile buyers. Such collectors include, Patrick Stewart. A Masters graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, To has also trained in Yorkshire. In recent years, he has exhibited alongside some of the greats of the international art scene such as Peter Howson, Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst. His work has also featured in several galleries nationwide. He is now represented in New York by Witmer Fine Art who has in the past sold works by Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and Andy Warhol.

Kilmorack Gallery, by Beauly, Inverness- shire. Tel 01463 783 230 http://www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk

For more information, please visit the official website of Frank To Fine Artist

CHRISTMAS EXHIBITION 2008 By The Herald 29/11/08

Kilmorack Gallery, by Beauly, Inverness- shire, 01463 782230 www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk Thur- Sun, 11am- 5:30pm until end of March.

Gallery owner Tony Davidson, of the Kilmorack Gallery near Beauly, always pulls together a fine gathering of artists for the annual Christmas exhibition. 3D makers in this show include Illona Morrice, Laurence Broderick, Angus Clyne, Lotte Glob, Sam MacDonald and Peter White. Gallery favourites James Hawkins, Robert McAulay, Eugenia Vronskaya and Kirstie Cohen also have some fine paintings on show, as do relative nercomers Frank To and Paul Bloomer.

Shetland- based Bloomer was born in the Black Country and worked as a labourer in an engineering factory before turning to art as a career. He spent a year at the Royal Academy in London and eight years ago, entranced by the ever- changing light of the Shetland Isles, packed his etching press in his car and headed north. His paintings, which burst with colour and energy, have a real graphic feel.

For more information, please visit the official website of Frank To Fine Artist.