ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE
FRANCESCA AVERY
CAPTURING LIFE’ S PRECIOUS MOMENTS BY TRANSFORMING THEM INTO HEARTFELT MASTERPIECES TO BE TREASURED FOREVER, EXTRAORDINARY KENT-BASED ARTIST FRANCESCA AVERY USES HER EYE-CATCHING SKILLS IN ILLUSTRATION AND WATERCOLOUR TO CREATE BELOVED KEEPSAKES FILLED WITH MEANING AND LOVE.
Francesca, please tell us about your artistic journey so far. Painting is something I’ ve always found myself coming back to over the years, from selling watercolour greetings cards during lockdown to now running my own business creating custom commissions of people’ s homes, first date spots and wedding venues! The past 18 months have been a real turning point for me; in summer 2024 I made the decision to leave my job in sales to work on my art and see where it would take me. I kept thinking to myself at the time‘ If I never try, I’ ll never know what could happen’- it felt quite scary to make the jump, but also very liberating!
As I previously worked in wedding sales, I started off by painting a series of wedding venues, which is how I fell in love with recreating buildings and architecture in watercolour. After spending time developing my skills and style, along with building my social media accounts, I decided to offer paintings of people’ s homes as sentimental gifts. In February last year, one of my TikTok videos showing my painting process went viral and everything completely changed overnight- I was inundated with enquiries and before I knew it, I had a fully booked diary and a rapidly growing waitlist! I quickly realised the power of social media and creating my process videos has now become such a big part of my business. Since then,
I’ ve completed over 80 commissioned pieces and it’ s been incredible! I’ ve loved seeing my style develop through each piece I create and it’ s also led me to find a new passion in content creation, too.
You create meaningful watercolour and illustrated works, capturing special moments for others- what do you love most about this? Knowing how much each piece means to someone who I’ ve never met and being able to capture a life milestone through watercolour really is the most wonderful feeling. I love hearing the stories which come along with each enquiry, whether it’ s a longstanding family home being sold or a first date spot to celebrate a special anniversary- I always feel so honoured that I get to play a small part in big life events for people. Although it is always a bittersweet feeling sending a piece out to its new owner after having spent many hours bringing it to life and falling in love with it myself, I remember that my art is sitting in homes all around the world, which I always find very surreal!
Can you share details of your creative process- from initial commission to completed artwork? I always start off by sizing up a print out of the reference image to use when creating the pencil outline. To ensure the proportions are accurate, I measure every part of the image to the millimetre( each piece is a real labour of love!) and once I’ m happy with my outline, I’ ll then begin adding in the watercolour paint. One of my favourite parts of the process is definitely building up the layers of paint to create depth within the piece. I also find that adding in shadows can be very effective, especially with buildings which are more angular. I try to film my process for as many orders as possible and I always dedicate time after completing each order to photograph them as well- my camera roll really is bursting at the seams!
What are you most excited for in 2026? 2025 really did teach me how much can change in a year, so I’ m very excited to see what 2026 has to bring! As well as continuing to take on custom commissions, I’ m hoping to expand my work into live event illustration. I worked in the events industry previously, so it would be amazing to combine my love for weddings and events with my art. I’ ve also always admired artists who create shop window art around the different holiday seasons, so this is something which I would love to experiment with too. 2025 was my first year building my business, so I can’ t wait to continue evolving my art throughout 2026 and to see where I’ ll be this time next year.
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