Meet Brooke Frank | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brooke Frank and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brooke, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Becoming an artist felt like the only way for me to avoid narrowing my interests. I have always been a curious person, and for most of my life, I had explored my various interests through drawing. I draw any time I want to know something. I love making connections between seemingly unrelated topics, pulling them together in the space of a drawing or painting, and finding the metaphorical thread which runs through them.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve also come to feel that every material change I make to the world needs to work toward a change in the way I want the world to be. I think about changing the world through art quite literally. Most marks you make on paper cannot be completely erased. I often ask my students to consider the impact their irreversible marks will have. The changes people make to the world do not need to be massive. It is enough to use your skills and your platform to make someone laugh, or to make someone feel seen. I’ve made it my personal mission to make work which brings a little levity to my daily experience of what, at times, feels like the imminent collapse of everything I know and understand. That sustains me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work comes from a deep desire to understand the world, and to build a personal relationship with it. I am very excited about the continual, organic evolution of my work. Starting a new painting or drawing can be very intimidating, but only when you aren’t convinced that your ideas are worthy of the time and materials it would take to bring them into the world. Once you start to believe in the value of your ideas, there is very little standing in between you and a successful, finished painting. I still struggle with this sometimes, but I am getting better with every passing year.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
These days, I spend a lot of time at home. My studio is at home and I seldom want to be elsewhere. Most of my friends are content to hang out here and chat over drinks, but when we need to get out, there are a many places to go. In Fort Lauderdale, my two favorite places to visit right now are IS Projects and Small Wine Shop. IS Projects is a community printmaking studio with a small but excellent gallery space. It’s very worth arranging to visit if you want to look at some art and meet some of the most genuine people in South Florida. Small Wine Shop is exactly what it sounds like. They always have a couple of bottles open to taste when you walk in, and they are happy to share their good energy and vast knowledge about wine. I am a huge fan of both of these spots, and since I moved back to South Florida from Austin, TX, I have been dreaming about taking my friends to both of them when they visit.

Additionally, no trip to South Florida is complete without a beach day and an alligator sighting. I love making a day trip of going up to Riverbend Park in Jupiter to kayak on the Loxahatchee River, and paddling slowly past gator after gator.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In addition to my amazing friends and family, I would love to thank all the teachers I’ve ever had. I have had some incredible teachers in my life – too many to list – and I owe all of them for supporting me and guiding me to get me to where I am.

Website: www.brookeelizabethfrank.com

Instagram: @brooke.e.frank

Image Credits
Matthew Cronin