"Magic realism" is a term often applied to the watercolors of Meisch. This is because his paintings evoke a strong feeling of de ja vu - the illusion of having previously viewed a scene. This sense of identity with a place, a time, or a mood, created the magic. The realism is derived from his architectural education and teaching background, along with a superb technical control of the watercolor medium. While watercolor has the reputation of being a challenging, but difficult medium, it has qualities that Meisch finds unique and which set it apart from other methods of artistic expression. It has fluidity and an immediacy which allows the artist to capture the mood of the moment to create memorable paintings.

Born in 1915, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Francis Meisch received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota. He received a Master of Architecture degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and went on to teach architectural subjects, freehand drawing and watercolor in the Department of Architecture at North Dakota State College.

He began exhibiting etchings and drypoints in 1937 and watercolors in 1942. His first watercolor sale was to the late Juliana Force, Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Since that time his work has appeared in more than one hundred and seventy local, regional and national exhibitions and in sixteen one man shows. His work has received many awards and is represented in numerous public, private and commercial collections throughout the United States. His watercolors have appeared in the Ford Times, Northwestern Bell Telephone Company publications, and other publications.

His strong, sure sense of color and value reveal the artist's love of nature and an ever-observing eye. Though his watercolors reflect his extensive world travels, the scenes of Minnesota remain the most sought after paintings.

He is a past president of the Minnesota Artists Association, a member of the Northstar Watercolor Society, and a member of the Old Watercolor Society's Club of London. He has made several trips to Europe to study watercolors in the museums and galleries and to gather material for art work. He has also traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, Alaska, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Guatemala in search of subject matter for his watercolors. In 1972 he was the invited artist at the Minnesota State Fair.