Fred Freesqueeze fred@freesqueeze.com
Art Resume
| Elementary School 1966 | |
| Second grade teacher. Ms. Lee. makes a big deal over my drawings and encourages my Mother to send me to private art lessons. Ms. Lee also tells me I should consider becoming an architect. I enter the school's art contest with a detailed pastel of my Mother leaning back in her office chair. I got second place to Beth Loomis' colorful picture of a single yellow flower. | |
| Private Lessons 1966 - 1972 | |
| My Mother takes Ms. Lee's advice and enrolls me in art classes. I start with Ms. Mudd (not her real name) who lived on my street and we gradually move around to 5 or 6 different instructors. Each time they got a bit further away. I learned about charcoal, pastel, acrylics, and oils from a variety of good and bad teachers all across south Dallas county. | |
| High School 1972 - 1977 | |
| Constantly drew
people, even when I should have been taking notes. I sell my
first portraits. These were racy drawings of the school's
prettier girls (done without their knowledge of course) that I was
pushing for $1. When a friend decided to slide my drawing into
the clear plastic cover of his notebook for all to see, I was strongly
encouraged by the school's administration (OUCH)
to find less offensive subject matter.
Senior year I was the staff artist for the High School newspaper. My finest work was a redesign of the paper's masthead and a cover drawing for the Christmas issue that took me about 40 hours and was then rejected by the instructor. It was Santa full front whipping his coat open like a flasher exposing his jelly belly cropped to avoid an X rating. The four or five people who saw it loved it. |
|
| College (Phase 1) 1977 - 1979 | |
| As an fine art
major I made A's in my art classes but that was all. Partied way
too much and Dad cut the funding after a semester when I only complete
two classes after signing up and paying for six.
Painting instructor Vincent Falsetta impressed me as a truly talented artist and a gifted teacher. When he told me that I would make a good illustrator, I took it as an insult. This was my first experience with a large number of artist that I could measure myself against. I learned that I was way ahead of the class as far as rendering goes, but only average in use of color and general creativity. |
|
| Day Job 1980 - present | |
| Entered the
work-a-day world and found that I could earn more with a traditional
occupation. For the first time, I went through sporadic periods
when I didn't draw at all. When I did, I'd go to bus stations
and bars and draw people at random who sat still enough for me.
I still have sketch books full of street people and plastered bar
patrons.
For several years I made a little money by selling giant retirement cards charged to the company's overhead budget. These were two 12X20 illustration boards made into a card with a big caricature of the retiree on the inside. I'd invest 5 or 6 hours and make $50 a piece. I also, for a short period, actually worked full time as a graphic artist. This was while I was working at a software company that suddenly developed a need when they took over an early e-commerce system that required graphics be created in an unruly vector based software to be displayed over the web. As soon as I moved from software support to graphic artist I noticed that many people assumed that anyone could do my job. They transferred me back to software support and reposted my job at a 30% lower rate and I moved to another company. At three separate companies I have either served as web developer/graphic artist or provided graphics to the web developer. |
|
| Six Flags Over Texas 1983 | |
| Took a part-time job at a large amusement park where I drew realistic charcoal or pastel portraits of visitors. We were given 10% of the take as commission. I made barely enough for my gas to get there, but I learned a lot about taking praise and criticism in stride. | |
| My Mentor, Simone 1986 - 1991 | |
| I
found Simone
through a former Manager that was taking classes from her out of her
garage. She is the finest impressionist artist I have ever
met. She was willing to work with me on my color problems and
for the first time I learned how to look at and confidently replicate
flesh tones.
Simone led a fun class of talented people. She encouraged us to enter a local community show. The first year I entered, I took a first and second in the amateur division. The second year I entered two pieces in the professional division and got only a single third. Simone also told me that I am a born illustrator. But she added, "...like Edward Hopper or Norman Rockwell." That didn't seem so bad. |
|
| College (Phase 2) 1988 - 1999 | |
| Enrolled in a local University as a Business major and eventually got my BBA. I took no art classes at all and probably because of this I filled each class' notebook with drawings of the instructor and rear views of my fellow students. Secretly drawing your professor is perfect because they are one of the few people that expect to be stared at. | |
| Marriage and Family Present - Future | |
| I have found marriage, or even just a serious relationship, to be detrimental to my creative motivation, but children and family seem to inspire me. Doesn't seem right but the more people in my house the more I want to draw. Maybe I just want them to know that Pappy does more than mow the yard and watch TV. My wife is very supportive and encouraging of my efforts. This website has served as great motivation, it's like my own little gallery where part-time critics can wonder in and offer their own opinions of a part-time artist. | |
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