Lesta Frank, Watercolorist
Texas watercolorist, Lesta Frank, has an expressive style described as “intricately detailed, with a mystical touch.” Her paintings of water gardens, cactus flowers, and Texas cowgirls are well-known throughout the Southwest. Recent commissioned work includes the 2002 National Alamo Bowl College Football Game print. Original paintings are in the permanent collection of the Bexar County Justice Center, have been exhibited at museums and in juried exhibitions, and are held by major hotels and private collectors.
"Many of my first ideas have been turned upside down concerning art. For example, when I came out of art school, I felt commissions had no value other than commercial. Now, I work mainly on commissions and they have pushed my palette past the rut, into colors I never might never have come to love and worlds of subject matter that would never have come into being in the way I approached them, had it not been for the challenges I accepted. Discovering how to portray a client’s dream while being true to myself has been my heart's desire. Now, when I get a commission, I first find the wellspring of my creativity and then connect with the synergy of the clients’ vision."
Lesta has a diversified marketing strategy to get maximum exposure for her work. “When people buy a bookmark or a mouse pad, it reminds them regularly of my work. Some come back later to commission a larger piece. Others commission a painting and then want prints, note cards or mouse pads of the image for their family. Either way, they remember me!”
Lesta earned an M.F.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, and a B.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She has an Alamo Heights art and ceramics studio, and finds time to teach adult and children's art classes, though she has so many commissions, that she gently complains of having too little time for her own art!