Creative Spaces: Meg Fransee

I'm so excited for today's creative spaces post because it features fellow Wisconsinite and all-around amazing lady, Meg Fransee. I had met Meg a couple times through mutual friends when we were both living in Madison, but it wasn't until we both moved to the Bay Area that I really got to know her. Smart, witty and über-creative, Meg is endlessly inspiring. When not working with underprivileged kids at Oakland Middle Schools she is spending time in her light-filled San Francisco studio, painting, drawing or block-printing her newest pieces. Below she answers a few of my questions about what inspires her, travel and living in San Francisco.

Name: Margaret/Meg Fransee

Occupation: Children's Case Manager in Oakland, soon to be graduate student, and artist.

What made you want to be an artist?

My parents are both highly talented and creative individuals who met when they were studying art. They fostered creativity in our family and exposed us to different art forms, from my dad's large-scale paintings to the hand-sewn dresses my mom would make for us for picture day. When we were young, my older sister and I would sell drawings pinned to a clothesline for 5 cents in our front yard in Wisconsin. I suppose from that point, up through studying art in college, I have considered myself an artist.

Who are your biggest influences/inspirations for your work?

I draw a lot of influence from the network of creative people I know in the Bay Area and beyond. From my friend Emily’s playful food videos, to my friend Patrick’s tee shirts, to my old classmate Meghan’s video work, the energy of people’s creative successes and struggles around me is hugely inspiring and motivating.

Beyond that, public transportation, houseplants, flea markets, neuroscience, conversations with children, and Otis Redding, are all influential on my work.

If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you go and why?

I would love to spend a summer in Berlin. I consistently see wonderful art and music being produced in that city, and I would be able to meet up with my older sister who is living in Paris. I also would not argue with a plane ticket to Austin.

Where do you go in San Francisco to feel inspired?

I love the hand-painted signs on shops in the mission. There is such a careful quality and sincerity to the lettering and hand-painted food items that is so lovely. People watching at Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley is always nice on a sunny morning, and Thieves Tavern is my go-to on Sunday afternoons.