Part-time musician and full-time artist, Mike Fredrickson received a BFA in 1988 and a MFA in 1992 from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He taught life drawing classes at MIAD and UWM part-time for 10 years from 1995 to 2005. "People always ask how long at takes to finish a painting... Sometimes it takes two months and sometimes it takes a year. The painting usually tells me when it's had enough." The 60-year-old artist says it all started with a sledding injury that kept him out of gym class for a year at the age of nine. "I had a head injury so while all my classmates were in gym I was in the library reading and drawing all year," said Fredrickson. "I guess that started a habit that I can't break and now if I don't paint for a day or two I get very depressed." Fredrickson paints with oils on hardboard with light glazes watered down with thinner. His technique owes more to watercolor painting than to traditional oil painting. In spite of this ambiguity about higher education, Fredrickson enjoyed teaching drawing. "I enjoyed being in school and I enjoyed teaching school," said Fredrickson. "I got a lot of really good drawing done in my life classes and I really miss them," said Fredrickson. "If anybody is into hiring a white, middle-aged male to teach drawing I'm all in," said Fredrickson. "I miss my students and I miss teaching a lot." |