Interview with artist Breezy Frederick
Breezy Frederick is a Conway, Arkansas artist originally from California. She did not discover her love of painting until her mid 30’s, when she began to teach herself to paint. In the process, she developed a unique painting style that results in paintings that surge with color and movement. More of Breezy’s work can be found at her Instagram and website breezyfrederickart.com.
AAS: Breezy, are you originally from Arkansas?
BF: I was born in Glendora, California, a city outside of Los Angeles. My family moved to Conway, Arkansas in December 1990 when I was 11 years old. I attended Conway Public Schools and then earned my bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College. After that I took additional classes in order to apply to UCA’s physical therapy program. I got married in 2002, and in 2004, I gave birth to identical twin boys, Will and Drew, so I put my educational goals on hold to allow me to prioritize my children, and I started a medical transcription business, which allowed me to work from home. My third son, Grey, was born in 2007. Although medical transcription was never my intended profession, I am very grateful to have found a way to earn a living while being home to raise my children.
AAS: When you were growing up were the arts and being an artist something you were exposed to or thought about?
BF: I really did not have any interest in art growing up, and I never for one second considered becoming an artist. There weren’t any artists in my family so it’s just not something I ever had any exposure to. My passion growing up was playing sports. I started playing sports when I was a young child, and I continued to participate in sports until I graduated from college. I was involved in some type of athletic activity year-round so it did not leave much time for anything else. I did, however, take two beginning drawing classes, one in high school and one in college, to satisfy an art credit required for graduation. While I enjoyed drawing, it was never something I was able to dedicate much time to.
AAS: So, you decided to take up painting relatively late in life. Do you think there were any specific instances that got you thinking about being a painter?
BF: Yeah, so I was 36 years old when I decided to give painting a try. It all started after I had decided to attempt painting murals on the walls in my house. I did not know the first thing about painting murals, but I thought it would be something fun to try. Painting murals turned out to be something I really enjoyed. However, the repeated process of painting a mural, deciding I didn’t like it enough to keep it, repainting the wall white and starting over became arduous. So, I decided to try painting on a smaller scale and ordered my first art canvases, acrylic paints and paintbrushes. I had absolutely no idea how to mix paints or use the brushes correctly, and my artwork showed it. Seriously, not good. I was now left with a lot of blank canvases as well as a many cans of leftover wall paint from the murals. I don’t like to be wasteful so I decided to try creating art with a pour and tilt method using the leftover wall paint on the canvases. Again, the end result was nothing spectacular, more of a mess really, but I was really intrigued by the swirls of mixing color created by the tilting action. I thought it would be really cool if I could figure out a way to paint that created the swirls of color but in a much more controlled fashion. So, I did what anyone would do next (ha). I headed to my kitchen to retrieve the tool that I thought could accomplish this – a drinking straw. And that’s how it all started for me. Off and on, over the next five years, I started to teach myself how to paint with a straw, but it’s really been over the last two that I have dedicated a significant amount of time to honing my skills.
AAS: Tell me more about the techniques you use and how you developed them.
Journey, 24” x 48”, acrylic on canvas
BF: The technique I originally started with was really simple. I would thin out my acrylic paints so that they could be placed in squeeze bottles, apply the paint to the canvas and then blow air through the straw to move it around. My first paintings were all created in one sitting as I would pour all the paint I intended to use on the canvas all at once blowing it into place until I had the entire canvas covered. This technique allowed me to control the paint to some degree but not enough to incorporate much detail. They really had more of an abstract feel to them. My painting titled Journey is an example of this early technique I used.
I realized that to create paintings with greater detail I would need to use something other than just the straw, and this is when I started using a straightened-out paperclip. Why the paperclip and not just a thin paintbrush? I like the rigid character of the paperclip as I feel it gives me greater control than a paintbrush. Over time, I started to add more detail into my work, and I stopped trying to complete my paintings in one session. I now paint working with smaller quantities of paint at a time, and I use the straw in combination with the paperclip pretty much simultaneously.
My paintings over the last seven years have become increasingly more detailed and complicated. I fell in love with this painting method. Every art piece is an experiment for me, and I try new things constantly, usually on the fly. There are no rules to follow as they don’t exist for me when it comes to painting. I just keep messing around until I get a result that I am happy with. Painting for me is all about the process. I turn on good music, blow paint around on a canvas, and learn as I go. I paint because it is something I really love to do. I lose myself when I paint. The world melts away, and time ceases to exist. It’s really quite meditative.
AAS: I want to know first about the amazing Jimi Hendrix painting. It must have been fun to create.
Jimi Hendrix, 48” x 36”, acrylic on canvas
BF: I painted Jimi Hendrix a little over a year ago so he’s an example of my more recent artwork. It’s a very colorful, detailed painting. Most of my painting subjects are picked based on my own personal interests. I love music so naturally I have painted quite a few musicians. I had an absolute blast painting this one, definitely jammed to some good tunes while creating it. I love a good challenge, and this one fit the bill. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I could pull this one off, but I was really happy with the way it turned out. This painting sold immediately after I completed it, but I loved it so much that I repainted it for myself. Jimi currently hangs in my living room in between paintings of Tom Petty and Johnny Cash. It will always be one of my personal favorites. I make short time lapse videos of my paintings as they are being created and I have one of Jimi coming to life.
AAS: Another musician-theme painting is Fab Four in Color. Is it your technique of blowing paint that created the wonderful movement throughout the painting?
BF: Fab Four in Color was one of my earliest paintings – like probably one the first ten paintings I ever created using the straw. I’ve always loved this photo of the Beatles in black and white, but I wanted to recreate it using a lot of color. At the time this piece was created, I had yet to start using a paperclip, so the detail of the faces was created by working in small batches blowing two different colors at a time allowing for greater control of the paint. This painting definitely led to the desire to paint faces with more detail thus leading to the use of a paper clip later on.
Fab Four in Color, 24” x 48”, acrylic on canvas
AAS: Something quite different is Free Your Mind. I really like the gray and cream palette. It becomes more of a dreamscape. Did you paint it all at once while the entire piece was wet?
Free your Mind, 24” x 30”, acrylic on canvas
BF: Free Your Mind is another of my earlier paintings, so it was created by applying all of the paint and blowing it into place in one painting session. Free Your Mind was painted first as one of my murals in a bright green shade. I was really drawn to it so I decided to paint it again on the canvas using the straw technique. I gave it the title “Free Your Mind” because the birds flying away from the face created by the tree branches symbolizes the need to let things go. More recently I painted one titled Revealed, which is a more detailed work based on this same premise.
AAS: You also do resin paintings. Tell me about the Foggy Forest wall panels and the process of creating them.
Foggy Forest, 8’ x 15’, epoxy resin on foam board panels
BF: Yeah, recently I have been messing around with art resin. Art resin is a completely different medium from acrylic paint. I had seen an art resin painting, and I kind of fell in love with the vibrant pigments and glass-like finish. I decided to try my straw technique with this medium. Again, I had no idea what I was doing or how this medium behaved so there has been a really big learning curve. Art resin is created by mixing two different liquids, resin and a hardener. Once you mix the two, you only have about 45 minutes to work with it before it starts to harden. It is also self-leveling so as it sits, it continues to move and spread. Therefore, most of the resin artwork you’ll see is abstract in nature. I wanted to try to figure out a way to “control” this medium so that I could use it to paint detailed paintings. It took a lot of trial and error to accomplish this goal, but I’m starting to gain a better understanding of how to work with it. Foggy Forrest is one of my recent resin experiments. It’s quite large consisting of five separate panels measuring about 8’ x 15’. It’s basically a wall mural created by painting resin onto foam board wall panels. The foam board keeps the weight of the piece at a minimum allowing the panels to be attached to the wall using removable Velcro strips. This way, you can have a mural that is not painted on a wall allowing it to be taken down and moved to a different location, if desired.
Blue Lake Mist, 48” x 60” (center panel), 48” x 30” (side panels), acrylic and epoxy resin on canvas
AAS: Another of my favorites is Catching Snowflakes. I understand it was a commissioned piece. Do you like doing commissions?
BF: Yes, I do enjoy painting commissioned pieces. It is rewarding to take an idea or special photo that someone has and turn it into something that they can treasure for years to come. I feel extremely honored when I get commissioned to create a piece of artwork for someone whether they are planning on hanging it in their own space or giving it to someone else as a gift. It really makes my heart happy to know that something I have created is going to add beauty to someone else’s world. I was thrilled to be commissioned to paint Catching Snowflakes. A husband had commissioned this piece to give to his wife as a surprise Christmas present. The wife had taken this photo of their daughter the previous year, and he wanted to turn it into a timeless family keepsake. The photo is just priceless. A little girl dressed colorfully standing in a sea of white snow catching snowflakes on her tongue. It doesn’t get much cuter than that. What makes it even more fun is that the following Christmas the wife commissioned another piece as a surprise gift for her husband – a painting of a special photo of him and one of their sons. On Christmas Day, the wife sent me a picture of her husband and son dressed in pajamas holding up the painting together. It made me tear up. It is really meaningful to have been given the opportunity to create pieces that capture the love this family has for each other. Love is what it’s all about.
Catching Snowflakes, 18” x 18”, acrylic on canvas
Catching Snowflakes, original photograph
AAS: Breezy, what can we expect next from you?
BF: Hmm, honestly, I really do not know the answer to that question. I never expected to become an artist – certainly not one who paints with a straw and paperclip. I also had not planned on working with art resin – it just struck me as interesting, so I decided to give it a try. For the time being, I will continue to create pieces using acrylic paints and art resin as well as a combination of both, but I am the type of person that likes to try new things. I’m really enjoying experimenting with different mediums and techniques so I will definitely continue to do that. I really have no idea about what lies ahead. An idea will just pop in my head, and I’ll give it a try without knowing what in the world I’m doing or if it will even work. This is what I love about the way that I create art. It constantly changes and evolves. It really is just a fun experiment each and every time I work on a new piece. So, I guess the best answer would be to expect the unexpected.
I will continue to create some type of artwork as long as I am capable of doing so. Will it always be paintings? Probably not - I like variation too much to limit myself to one thing only. My family has been incredibly encouraging and supportive, and my husband is definitely my biggest fan. If everyone loved my artwork as much as he does, I would be able to make enough money to quit my day job (every artist’s dream, right?). I have started working on trying to get my artwork out into the world for other people to see and enjoy, and I hope to actually start showing pieces somewhere soon. I paint because it is incredibly fulfilling on so many levels. Creating art is a passion not a job. I thoroughly enjoy the process, and I love the thought of being able to create something that adds beauty to this world.
