An Idea Springs to Life

In the winter of 2005, a friend from San Diego came to Arkansas to study art with Gene Franks.

When our friend saw Gene's paintings, she said, “There must be a way to bring these to the public.” So she and Jane, Gene's wife, a writer, began to brainstorm.

Early one morning as Jane sat musing on two portraits of cows in gold frames that sit on her piano; an idea flew into her head. Remembering that her interior decorator had used prints of these same cows in a french country decorating scheme, she envisioned using a collection of Gene's paintings in french country décor. Our friend suggested, “Why not include stories about the french countryside to go with the artwork?”

“I will create a “French fairytale,” Jane thought, “sophisticated enough to appeal to adults and captivating enough to enchant children!" And that's how the french fable sprang to life!”

The French Connection

Gene is a native of Arkansas and of French descent. As Jane got digging around in Arkansas history, she discovered that the French canoed up the Arkansas River in the 1700's, trapping animals and selling fur pelts. So, Gene and Jane thought it would be fun to tie the threads of Gene Franks' personal history to the history of Arkansas , and then take it a step further and “cross the pond” to the rural countryside of France !

French Country Décor

Gene and Jane had all the visual elements to build a world in the French countryside – sunflowers, lop eared rabbits, pigs, roosters and sheep, to mention just a few! So it was easy to bring the “characters” together to populate the world of the french fable , and to inspire mothers, grandmothers, teachers to use Gene's exquisite detailed watercolor reproductions to decorate children's rooms.

Magical Children's Story

Jane's love of fantasy and children's books led her to toss aside strict geographical and historical fact and spin a tale of Danielle, a French village girl and her animals; and Anouk, a gypsy girl of the Golden Wood and more.

It has been a lot of fun! And the fun is just beginning!