Frances Lennon always knew she wanted to be an artist, but when she sent some of her cartoon illustrations to the magazine Punch in the 1920s they were returned without explanation. Frances could not understand this until a friend told her it might be because she was a woman. Not to be deterred she dropped the 'e' from her name, replaced it with 'i' and found her illustrations accepted.
It was not till her 80s that she really became motivated to paint in earnest, and so began a prolific outpouring of her artistic energies. She became the official artist for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and was awarded an MBE for her services to the arts last year.
She’s become known as the people’s artist, as much for her focus on representing the ordinary scenes of her north-west childhood as for her commitment to encouraging a love of art in schools.
