About Us

 

Hello, I’m Francis, an artist and maker based in Ottawa, Ontario.

 

Ever since I was a young girl growing up in Brighton and Hove, I have been interested in art.

My family moved to Canada for my High School years and I eventually landed at Canterbury Arts High School in Ottawa. Yes, it was a little bit like Fame.

After a few years of searching for who knows what I met the love of my life and we ventured together to Toronto to attend OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design)

Decades later, after a wedding and having 2 kids, we landed back in Ottawa where I continued to work part-time for a large outdoor goods company. I worked with a wonderful group of people and enjoyed encouraging and educating others to get into the great outdoors.

 Part-time work allowed me to have the flexibility to put my family first. I will always cherish the days I got to stay home with my kids before they started school.

On my weekdays off I would dream of one day opening my own shop and being the creative that I was meant to be. I picked up my old tools and some new ones and started creating.

Fast forward, the pandemic hits and I am laid off. It is a weird and scary time. I started picking up my artists tools on a more regular basis. The pandemic wears on and I work more and more and come to realise that maybe now is the time to do what I was always meant to. And thus, begins School Hours.

School Hours is run from my home. (I dream of a studio one day!) I share my home with my husband, two children, a dog and a cat. It can get pretty busy around here.