She studied art and design at the Art Institute of Chicago and William Harper College (Palatine, Illinois).  Through her long association with the Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Art in Chicago, she has studied with distinguished artists such as Richard Schmid, David Leffel, Ted Goerschner, Ted Smuskiewicz, Clyde Aspevig and Scott Burdick.

Frankie has won numerous awards for her paintings through the years.  Most recently she was awarded Best in Show at The Richeson 75 International Landscape, Seascape & Architectural 2008 exhibition.  At the prestigious Easton Plein Air Competition & Art Festival in Easton, Maryland, Frankie won the 2008 Best Marine Painting award.  In 2007 Frankie won an Award of Excellence for her painting, "Horse Barn", at the 5th Annual National Juried Barns & Farms Exhibition.  She has also won awards in 2006 and 2007 at the Cedarburg Plein Air Painting Competition in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  At the December 2003, Oil Painters of America Show, she won an Honorable Mention on her still life painting, "Tea Party".  Her painting, "Reading in the Courtyard" was featured in the December/January 2001 issue of International Artist magazine.  Frankie was a finalist in the 1998 and 1999 Artist's Magazine's competition for her Portrait, Still Life and Landscape entries.

Her work has appeared in shows and galleries all over the Midwest.  She is currently represented by the Champeau Pioneer Gallery in Sister Bay, Wisconsin.  Frankie's paintings, including numerous portrait commissions, hang in corporate and private collections throughout the country.