Francesca graduated from the Liceo Artistico Statale II (Institute of Fine Art) in Milan, Italy in 1979 and has spent her life working as an artist, in theatre and film in various roles. She has worked on set painting at the National Theatre, London, Opera North, RADA, National Youth Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Bristol Old Vic. She has also worked as a painter at Aardman on productions including Creature Comforts, Chicken Run, and with Wes Anderson on Fantastic Mr Fox and Tim Burton on Corpse Bride.  

She teaches set design at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, UK and taught in countries as diverse as China, Mexico and Bolivia.  

She describes her approach to painting thus:
I see lights and reflections, echoes and movement, the solid shapes turning into shadows, the foreground becoming background. I look for the pattern within atoms as well as solar systems, the rhythm and flow of nature. The silence of the snow and the loudness of the waterfall.  

And I try to paint them. I never tire of working with watercolour and inks, forever discovering new possibilities. But I also work with tempera, acrylic, oil, pastels, charcoals, Chinese ink wash, etching and fused glass. I enjoy finding the voice of each medium and following the journey they take me on. I love colours and the synergy they create with each other. I play with transparency and layers, depth and volume.  

I look for a path within the complexity and the movement of each composition.