Artist Portrait by Yoko Radke
12" X 16" Oil 1998

Fred grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. His early interest in art was manifested by copying cartoons as a child and progressing to drawing portraits of people from photographs while in high school. Although having a strong interest in the visual arts, he went on to study engineering at the University of Hawaii where he received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. After a career in the telecommunication industry and later as a consultant engineer specializing in microwave and satellite transmission, Fred retired and set to build an avocation in fine art.

Although considered as self-taught, he pursued his early passion in art through studies with the late Franz Griessler, an Austrian-born artist and a contemporary of Egon Schiele. He also took several workshops with the noted watercolorist Robert E. Wood and oil painters T. M. Nicholas, Kevin MacPherson, and Ken Auster. Watercolor was his choice of medium when he started painting and in 1997, he shifted his focus to oil painting. As an adjunct to painting, Fred continues to hone his hand-eye coordination skills in drawing the human figure from life. He considers the human form, his favorite subject matter, the embodiment of universal inspiration and beauty. For him, rendering the human figure is the most challenging art form and the most personal fulfillment when successfully executed in any medium. He also enjoys the challenge of plein air painting. Whether the subject matter is landscape, seascape, figure, portrait, or still life, and regardless of the medium, Fred strives to capture the essence of mood and the elusive quality of light in his art.

As a member of the Hawaii Watercolor Society and Association of Hawaii Artists, his paintings have won numerous awards in local juried exhibitions. In the July 2001 issue of the American Artist magazine, his art work of portraits were featured in an interviewed article. Fred was also invited to participate in the fourth edition of the Biennale of Florence, Italy. The Hawaii Book Publishers Association in 1999 awarded him for excellence in children's book illustration for the book, Kolea: The Story of the Pacific Golden Plover. He has also accepted commissioned work. Fred's art is collected locally and abroad, as well as by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. He lives with his wife Ingrid in Honolulu and is represented in his home state by Cedar Street, Original Fine Artworks of Hawaii, and Oahu Art and Frame galleries.