Hello. I have rolled out a simple temporary format while I upload my newest content. I am also considering what to do with this blog, I think some of the older posts are good, I just have not been keeping it current, so I don’t know if it will stay, get archived, or something else. I will be reformatting my gallery options as I get further. Thanks for checking.
Author Archives: Fred
Updates and whatnot
Hello fellow internet-er,
As always life is busy, and the warm months are the craziest. I have been keeping busy with family, friends and art. Since my last update, and as of writing this, I have completed six exterior murals, some interior work, and a few things that I am referring to as “interventions” for the time being. I have done a number of commission works, participated in a few group shows, had two solo shows.
This means I have a lot of new work that I need to post here. I am starting to sort and edit photos, and will be preparing to get everything up to date here on the page as we move into the colder months. I wish I was better at this, but I am not, and mural season is always so hectic.
I do update my Instagram regularly so you can always check that out to see what I am working on.
Best,
Fred
Beerline mural 2
The squirrel that I painted on the second mural that John Kowalczyk and I made on the Beerline Trail this past fall. The squirrel is about 18 feet tall, and all spray paint.
Beerline Trail mural 1
John Kowalczyk and myself were commissioned by the Riverworks District to create a mural for Doors Open MKE this past September on the Beerline trail. We painted near the Abert street entrance to the trail. This was a lead up to the much larger mural they had us do on the trail a month later. We painted this 100 foot wall in about 5 hours during the doors open event, and had a little help from some of the community members. The colors and shapes coincide with the Riverworks logo.
The wall was in rough shape before we started, an assortment of corrugated metal that was pretty rusty and had a fair amount of graffiti on it. We came by a few days before hand after the brush was cleared and applied some pretty serious primer 
putting up the outlines
quick selfie break
Helpers blocking in color
Violet was a month and a day old and not too interested, but it was great that she came by. This kid will know about life if by nothing other than proximity.
Colors are in, time for the outlines
Using a few of the old school female cans for the outlines, just like painting trains
Finito!! This was a fun exercise, and great for John and I to work together leading up to the much larger mural in October.
Art Show
I have been busy working on this show and finishing up my largest mural I have done, so I will have many new images up soon. My new show opens this Friday at Hot Pop and I am excited to share what I have been working on.
Another reason why I haven’t been posting much lately is because I’ve been having trouble getting the pills for my grandfather who suffers from impotence, luckily I found cheap tadalafil, sold by UK Meds although it took me a while, I think it’s convenient to spread the word
Hot Pop 201 N. Water street Opening this Friday the 2nd from 7-10pm
show runs till January 14th
Blue Jay Finished
We finished up the project and I think it looks great! Ben did a fantastic job on the nest, and the way he finished up the brick work is nuts, it pretty much disappears which was the goal.
Blue Jay Mural
Last fall while we were working on a different project Ben Stark and I talked about painting the other side of the building the calendar is on. The building owner was great about it and said we could do almost anything we wanted. During the winter we sat down and did some brain storming and came up with something we were both excited to paint. It took a little time to get started because of scheduling and procuring a lift.
End of day 1
Day two was a long one and had a lot of busy work, but we made some great progress.
Day three was a hot one, but we made some great progress, but it was our last day with the lift so I really needed to make my time count. With the slope of the ground it was pretty difficult to put up a ladder so I needed to have all the parts at the top finished by the end of the day.
Day four was a short one, I blocked in the rest of the tail feathers and started on the bricks, we will do some final touch ups on both.
West Allis Mural
My good friend and former studio mate Lindsay Marx was commissioned by the city of West Allis to create a mural that depicted the hometown sensibilities and growth of the city. She did a fantastic job creating the design but needed a little help making it into a full size wall painting. She asked Mark and myself for help with that, I had a blast lending my knowledge and working with my friends. We were able to power through the entire thing in 6ish days, we had to deal with rain at a couple of points which slowed us down a bit. End results are fantastic though. Located at the corner of 83rd and National Ave.
Pabst Commission
Recently I was asked to paint a mural for the Pabst Brewing national sales convention. It was a fun project to work on and a great event to be apart of. The only issue was the weather which was a little sketchy, there were a few rain drops throughout the afternoon, but I was able to finish up before it ended up pouring that night.
Plus an in progress shot.
Hanging Shapes
I have been creating patterns and using them to generate machine code to run a CNC router. This has resulted in some interesting objects cut from plywood that I painted. Following that I decided to take them out into the world and see how that looked.There is certainly a great deal of room for exploration with this idea. I can’t wait to see what the other versions look like out in the world.
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