Frances Walker


1930 -

Painter. Born in Kirkcaldy, Walker trained at the Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 1952. Following a summer at Hospitalfield House (Angus), she returned to Edinburgh for a postgraduate year before travelling in Europe. She completed a teaching diploma at Moray House College of Education in 1956 and worked as the sole art teacher travelling between schools in North Uist and Harris (1956-8). In 1958, Walker was appointed a Lecturer in Drawing and Painting at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, where she worked until retiring in 1985. She continues to live and work in Aberdeen, but also spends much time at her house on Tiree.

She was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy (1970) and a full member of the RSA in 1983. Walker was a Governor of both Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee (1978-86) and Edinburgh College of Art (1988 - 2000). She has also served as a member of the Scottish Arts Council. In 2003, she received an honorary degree from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh).

Walker's style is varied, but features strong colours and a range of materials. She paints landscapes and seascapes principally of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Her works include Sea Fence, Wester Ross, Spring, Ornsay looking towards Islay, Vallay Strand, Leaving Roan and Off St. Kilda.

Her work hangs in public and private collections world-wide, including those of HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. In Scotland, her work can be seen in the Aberdeen Art Gallery, the City Art Centre (Edinburgh), the McManus Gallery (Dundee) and the Hunterian Gallery (Glasgow). The exhibition Passing Islands, which was staged at the Talbot-Rice Gallery in Edinburgh and Taigh Chearsabhagh on North Uist, involved her work from a ship passing through the Scottish islands.


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