STAR TREKS TO EXHIBITION by Victoria Davidson, THE BIG ISSUE 23/04/09

Picard actor Stewart boldly goes to Leith gallery

Intergalactic seals of approval don't come much higher- ranking than Starship Enterprise Captain Jean Luc Picard. But young Scots artist Frank To's pal, actor Patrick Stewart, dropped in to his current exhibition at Edinburgh's Leith Gallery while in Scotland starring in Beckett's Waiting For Godot.

Stewart has been a fan of To's work since he saw his degree show, and has five of his paintings in his private collection, including a portrait of himself. Stewart said: "I like Frank's work for its thoughtfulness, intensity, use of colour and mature technique." The exhibition runs till April 25

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

PICARD MAKES TREK TO LEITH By David Oliver, THE EXTRA 23/04/09

NEWTON Mearns artist Frank To finally met up with his most famous celebrity fan this week.

The painter's current Edinburgh exhibtion, at the Leith Gallery was visited by actor Patrick Stewart, famed for playing Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek the Next Generation.

The actor was in town performing alongside Ian McKellen in Waiting For Godot and took time out from rehearsals to view more of the southsider's work. He has bough To's work before and considers himself a fan.

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

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.