Artist of the Month:  Sue Frederick
By: Audrée Peters
Featured December 2007

Artist Sue Frederick of Fountain Hills says that everyone in her family except her mother had artistic capabilities.

“My mother started me playing the marimba (similar to the xylophone), so I was more in tune with instrumental music. I played in the band and in the First Philharmonic Orchestra, and my sister had a band and I played in her band.”

But she enjoyed painting in art classes in school so much that the school enrolled her in art classes at the Dayton, Ohio, Art Institute.

After she was married, she joined the Fairborn Art Association in Ohio, where she continued honing her art abilities. One of her paintings earned a ribbon in an art show.

For many years, family obligations kept her from pursuing her art on a full-time basis, “and when we lived in Washington, D.C. we had a tiny apartment, and I didn’t have the space to do it. I didn’t think I would ever be pursuing my art work then.”

While her husband, Dick, a civilian mathematician, worked for the government in Washington, D.C., she enjoyed her frequent visits to the White House, enjoying the artwork on display.

She says she was surrounded by an art atmosphere wherever she lived, including teaching art classes for children at the YMCA in Huber Heights, Ohio, and as a volunteer in the library at the Smithsonian American Art Institute after they moved to Arlington, Va.

After they moved to Fountain Hills in 2000, she says she was encouraged to continue her art, and started taking art classes again.

Frederick is a past membership chairperson and treasurer of the Fountain Hills Art League.

Frederick’s work has been on display at the Community Center and Fountain View Village, and two of her pieces are on display at Town Hall.

She has been a volunteer at the Fountain Hills Senior Services, building the library at the Senior Center, and involved in the Bingo and Bunco clubs.

Frederick recently donated her original painting, “Pony Express,” to the River of Time Museum. The painting will be on a western United States phone book in the near future.

“I’ve lived here seven years and have never seen the Pony Express,” she says with a laugh, “but this year it’s the day before my birthday, so it’s time.”

Frederick is also a collector of fine art, and especially enjoys Thomas Kincaid, Ron Head and Ted De Grazia.

In her own art work, Frederick particularly enjoys animal and western themes, and works with pastels and oil.

Her “studio” is the large utility room in her home, where she gets perfect light for painting.

“My medium started out in oils,” she says, “and I have used pastels, pen and ink and watercolor colors.

“I’ve done oil sticks, but I don’t like them,” she admits. “They’re too bulky and messy.”

She has also dabbled in clay and ceramic sculptures.

But when it comes to her favorite media, she says they would be pastels and oil.

Most of her paintings are from scenic or floral to landscapes and animals, including some abstracts and impressionist styles.

“I just paint what I feel,” she says. I have no special techniques. I try everything.”

Frederick has worked on commission, and she also looks forward to decorating chests for the Fountain Hills Art League auctions every year.

“I don’t have as much (of a portfolio) as most artists have,” she says, but adds that in her life, “I do a lot of things.”

“In fact,” she adds with a laugh, “I do too much sometimes.”

Frederick has many activities in town, including being a member of several clubs and organizations, volunteering at the Senior Center and knitting and crocheting blankets for Project Linus.

“My goal is just to enjoy the art I do. I don’t really have a goal to make a career of it as far as painting to sell. I just do what I enjoy doing.”

 “I’ve had many, many chances to do things,” she says. “I’ve had an exciting life.”

Sue Frederick can be reached at (480) 836-9330.