OPEN DOORS AT TOP ARTIST'S CITY BASE

FAST- RISING art star, Glasgow- based Frank To, will reveal the secret of his success this weekend as part of WASPS Artists' Open Studios Weekend.

The 26- year- old is among dozens of exciting young painters and sculptors whose work will feature in the event at the Dennistoun venue over Saturday and Sunday.

Last year the studio's open weekend, in the East End's Hanson Street, saw around 4500 visits and generated £35,000 in sales and commissions across Scotland.

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

TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK by Mark Smith, THE GLASWEGIAN October 1st 2009

A YOUNG Glasgow artist is set to reveal the tricks of his trade at an arts event this weekend.

Frank To's unique painting technique has won him praise among art critics and high- profile collectors alike.

His work has been hailed by Star Trek star Patrick Stewart, who has bought of his paintings.

Other examples have featured in STV's detective drama, Rebus.

But Frank struggle for recognition in his early professional years.

Now he is offering art lovers a rare opportunity to see for themselves how he creates his work by inviting them to this year's WASPS Open Studio Event in the city's Hanson Street.

Frank said: "My painting technique is inspired by a story attributed to the Renaissance sculptor, Michelangelo. It was said he could visualise the human form within a block of marble.

"In the same way, I tease out figures from initially abstract images. I'll be demonstrating in detail how my paintings are created for the first time at the forthcoming open studio event."

Opening times for the event are Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 12pm to 5pm

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

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.

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

ARTIST IN HIS STUDIO By Gordon May, The Glaswegian 02/10/08

A NEW breed of Scottish artist with a devoted celebrity following will be showcasing his latest work at the W.A.S.P.S studio in Glasgow.

Glasgow based artist, Frank to will be featured in the highly anticipated event "W.A.S.P.S Open Studio Weekend" at the Workshop and Artists' Studio Provision Scotland building in Dennistoun, opening Saturday.

To will be opening his workshop to the public, displaying new work yet to be exhibited.

At 26, To is already winning an enviable reputation as a contemporary figurative painter, having establishing a loyal following, including a number of high profile buyers. Such a collector is Star Trek legend, Patrick Stewart. Additionally, To's work has been featured in the STV detective drama, Rebus.

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.

His work has also featured in several galleries nationwide including the Fairfax Gallery, Tunbridge Wells (2005), Beaux Art Gallery, Bath (2006), Albemarle Gallery, London (2007) and Queens Gallery, Dundee (2008).

He is now represented in New York by Witmer Fine Art, that has in the past sold works by Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and Andy Warhol. To is currently riding the crest of a wave with his work, and prices are soaring accordingly due to his popularity.

To draws inspiration from the Renaissance sculptor, Michelangelo could visualise the human form within a block of marble. To, similarly, teases out figures from the initially abstract images.

To said: "This event will provide me with the unique opportunity to show the public how I work. W.A.S.P.S Open Studios' opens on Saturday and Sunday at 77 Hanson Street.

BEAULY GALLERY LURES TOP GLASGOW ARTIST by Samantha Chetwynd,The Press & Journal Inverness 06/09/08

ARTIST INSPIRED BY MICHELANGELO

By Samantha Chetwynd

A GRADUATE from Dundee Art School who draws inspiration from Michelangelo will exhibit his work at an Inverness- shire gallery next week.

Frank To, 26, will have four paintings on display at the Art and the Word show at the Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly.

His work will be exhibited alongside several established Scottish artists who have created work inspired by literature.

Mr To, who is based in Glasgow, is already creating a reputation as a contemporary figurative painter, having established a loyal following that includes a number of high- profile buyers such as Star Trek legend Patrick Stewart.

His work has also been featured in television detective drama Rebus.

And in recent years his work has been exhibited alongside that of Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst.

He said: "This exhibition will provide me the opportunity to show the public how I am inspired by literal text.

"In a way, I'm showing a more personal side with the new work."

The exhibition opens on September 12.

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL by Jan Patience The Herald 02/02/08

Frank To's work is fired by ambition says Jan Patience

Young artists are not what they used to be. Once upon a time, any self respecting artist in their twenties spent whole days down the pub, smoking furiously, drinking heavily and arguing over weighty issues such as whether or not art schools destroy art. These days, you are more likely to find them networking with London galleries or with agents in New York, putting together business plans and setting up a website in order to market and control their own work.

Who is to say which is the better path, but what is certain is that being a talented young artist in 2008 is a vastly different experience from being such a creature a generation ago.

Frank To is the only exhibiting artist at the Queen's Gallery's New Generations exhibition who hasn't got his own website. But the 25- year- old, from Newton Mearns south of Glasgow, does have a New York agent called Michel Witmer and a London gallery, Albermarle.

He is currently riding the crest of a wave with his work, and prices are soaring accordingly. This time last year, a reasonable sized To painting would have cost you £800. Today it would be £1700.

There is real drama in his work- a brooding mental energy that sucks you in and leaves you wondering what, why, where? He talks about how his hero Michelangelo considered marble for days on end before teasing out the figure within, and how it is his preferred method of working too.

He places himself into the work at every turn. One painting in the New Generations exhibition, Time after Time, shows two figures facing each other with a gap between them, He says "This came out of a personal experience I had of having feelings for someone which were never realised although there is a sense of ‘what if?'"

There is a multi- layered approach to Frank To's work. In the first place, he creates an abstract scene. He works quickly, layering the paint in sweeping gestures. He then drips turpentine on the surface to create a mottled textured layer and uses whatever he has to hand- a discarded neon light strip is a favourite- to work the surface into a state of readiness.

At that point, he steps back, and looks for the figure within. His figures are then drafted in with a rag soaked in turpentine.

The influence of masters, old and young is obvious. He studied under Calum Colvin at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee, where he gained an MA in 2005. "Calum instilled in me the need to be professional and the way he presented himself was a huge influence," To says.

With the professionalism comes ambition. "My goal is to be made a member of the Royal Academy by the time I'm 30," he smiles. "Turner was admitted by the time he was my age, so I won't be the youngest ever, but it is a real burning desire."

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

AWARD CHOICE A STROKE OF GENIUS by Andy Newport, THE PAISLEY DAILY EXPRESS 15th September 2007

Artist now knows he can bank on his talent

By Andy Newport

A young artist's face was a picture after he walked away with a top business award and a £600 cash boost.

Frank To, founder of F. To Fine Art, was all smiles after her beat the business talents of Paisley's best young start- ups to win the 2007 regional final of the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) and The Royal Bank of Scotland Business Awards

Frank, 25, decided he wanted to become a full- time artist in 2005 having completed his Masters in Fine Arts at Duncan of Jordanstone Art School in Dundee.

With support from PSYBT, in his first year of being self employed, Frank took part in more than 30 exhibitions, with some of his works being exhibited alongside Britain's best contemporary artists from the 20th century.

Counting Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart among his clients, Frank is commanding premium prices for his works which are becoming much sought after, both in the U.K and in the States.

The awards ceremony, which took place at Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire, was attending and supported by RBS banking manager George Kenney, who presented Frank To with the £600 cheque.

He will now be considered by the judging panel to go forward for the national final in Glasgow in November.

Six of the 18 regional winners will be selected to compete for the coveted national title of PSYBT and Royal Bank of Scotland Young Entrepreneur of the Year, with the opportunity to win £1500.

The runner- up in the awards is Paisley girl Pauline Clifford, founder of Starsparkles,

Pauline set up her business producing customised training shoes originally for the Qube shop in Glasgow.

The shoes are individually decorated with Swarovski crystals and can retail at £200 per pair.

Pauline's sparkling designs have already been snapped up by Madonna and Paris Hilton and a number of well known high street retailers such as Office and she is actively marketing in the United States.

She was presented with the runner- up prize of £300- sponsored by Renfrewshire Council- by Provost Celia Lawson.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, PSYBT regional manager Tony Dorrington said: "To recognise and celebrate the success of young entrepreneurs who are creating wealth, and who are making a positive contribution to their local community with this business award, is a privilege for all of us involved and a great inspiration to others. We wish them well in the finals."

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

FRANK'S DRIVE MAKE IT SO

Artist with celebrity following realises career dream with the help of P.S.Y.B.T.

When controversy was beginning to envelop the recent Glasgow Art Fair, there was at least one artist from whom the squabbling was immaterial.

While some were arguing that the art fair ought to favour Scottish galleries, Frank To was only too happy to be on both sides of the division – a local artist represented by a London Gallery.

Supported by the PSYBT office in Paisley, Frank only completed his Masters degree in Fine Art last year, but already enjoys the representation of the prestigious Fairfax Gallery in London, the thrill of having his work sell out and being noticed by the rich and famous.

Star Trek’s Patrick Stewart (pictured) has already bought a couple of pieces, courtesy of a relationship that goes back to Frank’s student days. While Frank was studying for his undergraduate degree at the University of Huddersfield, Stewart was the University’s chancellor.

Things are now developing exactly as Frank planned it. Whilst at Duncan of Jordanstone College of art in Dundee, he focused on making himself known in the art world by sending out photographs and slides of his work to galleries and prospective customers and the response was very encouraging.

After all that studying, Frank approached PSYBT because he wanted to put his years of training to the test. “I asked myself what would be the point of all that studying if I wasn’t going to give it a go and become a full time painter.”

Tipped for the top in the lifestyle magazine, Homes and Interiors Scotland – which recently selected its top five arts graduates in Scotland – Frank is now hopeful that, with London now taking notice, so might New York.