B. 1885 – 1976

Frances (Frank) Payne was a Brisbane-born artist and illustrator who worked both commercially for major Australian brands and painted vivid, striking depictions of her family life. Born in 1885, Payne studied painting at the Brisbane Technical College, and then continued on her studies in Paris and London until she eventually returned to Australia in 1907. Although receiving a classical art training, Payne began doing freelance design and illustration work for newspapers, travel brochures, and department store catalogues. 

After separating from her husband in 1928, Payne was able to independently support her three children through her commercial design work, a rare feat which indicates her business aptitude. 

Her career was not, however, just confined to commercial and freelance design work. A member of the Society of Women Painters, Payne would also create evocative and romantic oil paintings, often of her children in nature. Through her own work and her advocacy for women in the arts, Payne became the first president of the Women’s Industrial Art Society in 1934 and received the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937. 

For a more in-depth biography of this artist, click here.