The Art and Life of
Barbara Fritsche
by Dale Youngman
“Happy am I to be a painter. It calls into my life those parts of my mind which direct both eye and hand. Light and color - the truth of the beauty of line and form. I think this heightened sense of observation of nature and human nature is one of the chief delights that have come to me through painting.”
 Barbara Fritsche is an artist with a passion and drive to always be creating. Largely self-taught, she has been drawing since the age of two, and has never stopped. Her work varies from large expansive nudes, contemporary still life tableau, thoughtful portraits, flowers to fish, to massive social commentaries. She likes to fill the space, whether it is a commissioned portrait of a young child, or the monumental “Oil and Guts,” a 48’ x 12’ narrative on the history of oil drilling. Her strong and technically expressive works speak to her unique strength and seriousness of purpose as a successful artist. Her entrepreneurial prowess has led her to also become a gallery owner and well as maintain a lucrative hair cut-and-color business for decades. Overcoming many speed bumps in her life, she has persevered and moved steadily forward with a strong will and determination, creating both intensely powerful and calming reflective works.
Born in Ventura County, CA, Fritsche and her family moved to Palos Verdes, CA when she was seven. When a senior in high school, her mother recommended she enroll in half-day classes at a nearby cosmetology college to learn an always-in-demand profession. An artist herself, her mother understood the importance of having a “Plan B,” as the life of an artist is always challenging. Recognizing her daughter’s talent and passion for art however, Mom saved a small piece of paper with a pencil drawing of a woman, noted at the top “Barbara drawing a woman at 3yrs.,” a precious artifact that Fritsche now treasures.
“I’ve always known I’m an artist. People often say, ‘You look like an artist.’ I guess that’s a good thing! After I graduated from Rolling Hills High School then Cosmetology College, I got a job working in my first salon. I worked hard, got my own apartment and car, but I would sometimes find reasons to call in sick so I could paint and follow my passion.”
In May 2005 Fritsche opened her first business, Palette Gallery, in Ojai, CA shortly after the passing of her mother from cancer. She had long dreamt about this gallery, and the name came to her very clearly. She decided to open with a large group show, adding four other artists in addition to her own work, and made the front page of the Ojai newspaper with her grand opening event. She proceeded to surprise the small town, holding art workshops, hosting late-night openings with DJ’s, fabulous art models, wine, and food. It became a fulfilling business for the Artist/Curator/Hair Colorist, with clients coming from Malibu and all around the region. Her desire to give back led her to fundraising for Susan Komen, “Race For The Cure” and contribute various community workshops during the 5 years she operated the gallery space.
It was at Palette Gallery in late 2007, when Fritsche had an auspicious visitor who bought several paintings and had an idea for a special commission, one that would change Fritsche’s life.
The movie, “There Will Be Blood” about the oil industry had just been released. The client stated that the movie told the story of his life, and he wanted a massive painting that illustrated the story of his father’s first oil well drilled in the local mountains. He brought Fritsche to the new building where the work would be installed on a 200-foot-long wall. He paid a deposit, thus beginning a year-long process of decision-making on scale and content, sketching, negotiating, more sketching, and finally – painting. What began as a dream project soon turned into a nightmare however...
“We went back and forth with scale and subject a lot. I painted small triptychs as mock-ups with lots of color, using a palette knife to create texture. Finally painting, on a huge scaffold, I was about halfway through when the mortgage bubble came crashing down on the project, causing the client to bail after paying only a portion of the cost. I was frozen, with no idea what to do next, or how I would finish the massive undertaking.”
But Fritsche is no quitter. After a month of contemplation, she decided to finish the work, adapted to make it more of a general narrative than a personal piece, highlighting the historical aspects, changes in the industry, and set in the local landscape. She proceeded to work on the 12’(H) x 48’(W) x2”(D) mural, composed of 18 canvas-wrapped mahogany panels using Gamblin oils. The enormous work tells the story as seen through the eyes of the workers - called “rough necks.” Powerful and compelling, the piece includes tributes to those that passed while working in the oil fields, created in white chalk as shadowy figures next to archaic equipment and the old-school wooden platforms used until the late 1950s. It shows the transition to present day, illustrating the newer metal platforms, Lufkin pump jacks, contemporary workers painted life-size, all set against a background of mountains reminiscent of reclining figurative nudes, a looming volcano, (symbolizing fossil fuels) and a biblical sunset.
“I visited many drill sites and interviewed several people so that I had authentic references for the equipment and the workers. I wanted it to be both realistic and impressionistic, so the painting could have a deeper meaning. I came up with the name one night while I was painting the sunset using brilliant colors - hasa yellow, mono orange, cadmium red, dioxide purple, various shades of blue... I had to stage the entire piece, cable-hung, to start painting all 48 feet at one time while standing on my scaffolding. One hot night I opened the loading dock doors, and in came a squadron of bugs of all sizes. I watched them fly right into my sunset paint, attracted to the light. So, I immediately thought ‘Damn – there’s going to be bug bits in my painting.’ Thus, it became “OIL AND GUTS!”
 With the pressure off to finish the work for a specific installation, Fritsche still had to juggle multiple responsibilities. She was taking care of hair clients, managing a retail art gallery, curating exhibitions for the artists she represented, selling, packing up and shipping artwork. That was her 9-5, but personally, she was also renovating her home, caring for 3 big dogs and one cat, working with a trainer to stay fit, having awesome parties, and of course, maintaining a presence in the burgeoning LA art scene. She was beloved by her many collectors and clients, including one who flew her to Kyoto, Japan after the death of her husband, as she needed her color done. But soon the bills mounted, the clients dried up, and Fritsche sank just as the economy did, losing her home, the gallery, her pets, and tragically, her father. She did finish the mural, although now, there was nowhere to put it.
“With my small inheritance from my father I moved to LA and got my first large art loft. I immersed myself in the local art scene, created a new colorful series of Koi fish and also a series of large mixed media works based on technology. I was invited to exhibit at multiple galleries, and life began improving, especially upon an invitation to show 'Oil and Guts' at a large space in downtown LA. I also set up an area in my studio to continue working with my hair clients and grew my clientele. An unfortunate car accident was another setback, as I was unable to work for quite a while. Then, I was forced to move out of the loft. My life has been a series of ups and downs like that. Somehow, I have managed to stay afloat – and stay smiling.”
 Multiple moves and years later, Fritsche is still painting and coloring hair, making walking canvases of her loyal clientele. Her current works address the surreal, intangible world of social media, addictions, memories, dreams, and relationships, embracing the beautiful, bizarre, and the melancholic. Driven to produce meditations on life, both from a real-time perspective, and a time-lapse notion, a slice of everyday existence, that brings to a head the trials of life as we know it. One favorite topic, nudes, addresses both the vulnerability and strength of the female, as goddess, mother, lover. Using the form figuratively, but also abstractly as a metaphor, she creates landscapes of bodies, honoring both “Mother Earth,” and also symbolizing the power of women as the source of life and the force behind the unification of humanity. She is a team of one, a force to be admired, and still on the go, taking “Oil and Guts” along with her, until the right owner or business comes along to claim it.
To see and purchase work by Barbara Fritsche, please Click Here to visit her online studio or for more info, send an email, Click Here.
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Author Dale Youngman is an independent art curator, fine art dealer, marketing consultant and art writer, working to facilitate the flow of art in Southern California. She currently consults with artists, galleries, interior designers, non-profits, and a new art platform to advance business for everyone in the art world. She has twice been honored by the LA Mayor’s Office with “Certificates of Recognition“ for her many years of art advocacy. Find Dale at her website.
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