Article by Marcia Darnell
Local Artist – September 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
IT’S A LONG WAY from rural Kentucky to fine art galleries in the West, but Charles Frizzell has made it successfully, with style.
After earning a B.S. in Fine Arts from Murray State in Murray, Kentucky, Frizzell traveled extensively through the U.S. “looking for a place to land,” as he put it. He ended up in Cripple Creek in 1969 and moved to Central Colorado in 1994. He now lives with two dogs and six cats on 40 acres above Salida.
“I want to share my feelings about this environment,” he says. “It’s the most incredible place.”
Frizzell is celebrating his home with a series of watercolors depicting old buildings around the valley.
“These funky old buildings are being replaced by these ugly metal buildings,” he says, “and æsthetically I want to capture them before they’re gone.”
His subjects are mostly old barns and corrals. He says the changes people can see — the additions, the repairs to the old structures — are his inspiration.
“It’s a pattern of the lives of the ranchers and the generations that have lived there,” he says.
“I have the biggest collection of watercolors that I’ve ever had at Gallery 150 right here in Salida,” he says, “and most of them are subjects right here in Salida.”
Frizzell paints “primarily oil on canvas, sometimes acrylics on canvas and watercolors.” He’s been an artist “pretty much all my life” and has been a professional for 30 years.
He sells on consignment. His work is on display at Gallery 150 in Salida; Exposures International in Sedona, Ariz.; Maxwell Galleries in Aspen; Painthorse in Breckenridge; and in Nevada City, Calif.
His creations have spanned many subjects.
“I’m internationally known for mystical Native American work,” he says. His images of Indians, wolves and birds include prints, posters, calendars and note cards. He also created some collector’s plates which were produced by the Franklin Mint.
“I was always fascinated with Native American beadwork, artifacts and art,” he says. “It was art that was produced and kept for spiritual reasons, not for any commercial purpose.
“The more I learned about the artwork, the more I learned about spirituality.”
His current spiritual focus is creativity.
“My work is my meditation.”
HE STOPPED producing Native American artwork two years ago because it became “too commercialized.” Now he paints “generally the mountainous Colorado and the Southwest.”
He produces many large-format landscapes — some as big as 36 inches by 54 inches — in oil and acrylic. He travels a lot, including many trips to and from Sedona.
“I take creative routes,” he says. On those trips, he makes studies of the scenery in the form of photographs and sketches. “I very seldom paint on the spot,” he says.
Those photos and sketches are translated into paintings with improvements on reality.
“A painting is an impression and I have a romantic view of the landscape,” he says.
His work also includes portraits. One in his home, titled “Albert,” is a character study from his days in Cripple Creek. The old rancher, nicknamed “Pop” is shown, wrinkles and all, in a white cowboy hat and purple shirt. The shading and texture of the old man and his clothing makes him seem warm and alive.
But Frizzell’s focus now is on his home in the Arkansas Valley.
“This valley is so peaceful and art-friendly,” he says. “There are so many artists here.” He likes the non- competitive atmosphere. “It’s not clique-ish,” he says.
In fact, an informal group of artists gathers Friday evenings to talk about art, marketing, and inspiration. This kind of interaction is necessary for someone who works mostly at home.
Frizzell has a studio in the old barn next to his house, and a watercolor studio inside the house. He says this helps him work on two paintings at once.
“Quite often I’ll have an oil going in the barn and when I need a break from that I come in here and work on a watercolor, which is such a different thing it gives me a fresh vision when I go back to oil,” he says.
He seldom has two pieces going in the same medium.
AT THE TIME of the interview, Frizzell was creating an oil landscape, 24 inches by 36 inches, of aspens surrounding an old corral. The vertical lines of the trees contrast beautifully with the horizontal boards of the old pen.
He has also begun fantasy paintings, studies of castles and dragons, of magical and mythical figures.
“They’re a lot of fun and a great departure” from his usual work, he says. He has three of these works displayed in Aspen and a commission to produce a large piece for a new restaurant there called Merlin’s.
An annual book called Spectrum is the exhibition for his fantasy and sci-fi art.
For the immediate future, Frizzell has plans to work at the Great Sand Dunes to create an entry for the Arts for the Parks competition.
He also plans to continue his Salida-area watercolor series “until I run out of ideas on it.”
For Frizzell, variety is the creative force.
“I go off in different directions,” he says. “I don’t want to get stuck in one role.”
To see Charles Frizzell’s paintings, visit Gallery 150 in Salida at 150 West First St., 719-539-2971.
Marcia Darnell lives and writes in the San Luis Valley.
