Ken Frederickson of Wawota spent over 30 years as a professional photographer of rodeos, ranching and wildlife, and did very well with it.聽 His almost photographic memory helped him know when he had the perfect shot, where to find that shot at a later date in the photo archive and helped him when he began exploring his passion for carving.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One September day four years ago, he was sharing Moose Mountain Provincial Park with about six other campers, talking with his wife as he worked on a piece of sculpture.聽 Frederickson had already completed a piece he had entitled 鈥淏ear Soul鈥� and was in the middle of a piece that featured two eagles fighting over one fish.聽 The piece was quite large and the birds had a wingspan of over 32 inches each.聽 His wife was asking him when he was going to cast his first sculpture, where they would do it and how they would find the money.聽 Casting a sculpture in bronze is very expensive, not only because of the cost of the entire process but also because most foundries want you to do 10 pours in order to justify the cost of the mold.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For a first timer that cost was prohibitive when you had no customers lined up.聽 As they discussed the pros and cons a gentleman walked into the campsite and said he thought he should introduce himself to fellow artist, especially a sculptor, since he was also one and there were so few of them around.聽 The gentleman鈥檚 name was Rich Loeffler, and before he left the campsite, he had invited Ken to cast his sculpture in an art foundry in Montana where he was part of a stable of artists.聽 Loeffler mad all the calls and arrangements and when Ken showed up with his sculpture of 鈥淏ear Soul鈥�, the owner of the Foundry was so impressed with the work of art that he offered to let Ken do a single pour of the mold if he wished to.聽 Bear Soul was cast in November and in March he got the finished sculpture back. His wife was on the board of Sunrise Community Futures and they travelled to the Canadian Convention north of Quebec City where the keynote speaker was Ovide Mercredi, past National Chief, Assembly of First Nations, lawyer, politician and author. During a chance meeting after the speech, Frederickson asked Mercredi if he would critique a piece of sculpture.聽 He shared photographs of Bear Soul and Mercredi loved it. He sent a text to Ken鈥檚 wife saying 鈥淵ou have an incredible gift of art that should be shared with the world鈥�. He was so impressed with Frederickson鈥檚 talent that he invited him to attend the Assiniboia Art Retreat.聽 Part of the retreat was the opportunity to display one piece for a month at the Shurniak Art Gallery, and the only complete piece of work was Bear Soul. When he carried it into the gallery he was asked 鈥淲here have you been hiding your whole life?鈥�, to which he replied 鈥淣ot hiding, just busy doing other things.鈥�. Shurniak told him that he wanted to host his first show.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Frederickson continued to sculpt and on October 1, 2017 he held his first show at the Shurniak Art Gallery in Assiniboia SK with Ovide Mercredi. Mercredi wrote poems to accompany the sculptures and Frederickson created sculptures to go with some of Mercredi鈥檚 poems.聽 Immediately following the show, Frederickson travelled to Calgary where he submitted 5 pieces to the Calgary Stampede.聽 With over 300 pieces submitted, he was thrilled to have one selected to be presented as a trophy for the Stampede.聽 The selection meant seven castings would be done, the first to be part of the permanent Calgary Stampede art collection, the second to the corporate sponsor of the event, and one presented to the winner for the next 5 years.聽 Since then he has created over. 鈥淔ly Fishing鈥�, the one he was working on in the campsite, has become part of the permanent collection at the Shurniak Art Gallery, amongst such famous artists as the Group of Seven.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Another one that has great significance was commissioned for Ray Kneeland of Saskatoon.聽 It is a bronze of Ray riding his favourite horse 鈥淒ice.聽 This meant a lot because the horse had been purchased from Frederickson鈥檚 father and he knows that when the time comes Kneeland will be able to carry that horse into the nursing home with him and enjoy it and the memories every day.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Frederickson is self taught and he sculpts in petroleum wax or oil-based clay. Once a piece is sculpted it is covered in rubber to form a mold, which is then used to make a wax replica. That replica is then covered with a ceramic slurry and fine sand is blown onto it, repeating the process over and over until it forms a ceramic shell.聽 The shell is placed in a kiln and fired, the lost wax melting out of the inside.聽 The shell is filled with molten bronze at a temperature of 2100 degree Fahrenheit and when it has cooled the ceramic shell is broken, leaving the raw bronze. Anything that sticks out from the main piece is made in a separate mold, so multiple molds are cast and then everything is welded together and finished with a patina, adding colour and depth to the bronze.聽 Each piece is unique, despite using the same mold, because the patina is hand painted.聽 Each piece is created from memory, and chosen because it interests him, gives him full license to design it his way and is one that he can sell more than one casting of.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Frederickson has been a part of the Assiniboia art retreat every year since his first visit and the group lay claim to him as an artist.聽 The Kenosee Lake Art Colony invited him to be a permanent artist 3 years ago and Frederickson takes full advantage of the peace and inspiration to be found there. He has many pieces on display and welcomes visitors.聽 Frederickson is part of an art retreat at the Mother Teresa Centre in late August, attended by approximately 22 artists from two or three provinces. The retreat is followed by an exhibition held in the Recreation Hall.聽 This year the exhibition will be held August 29 and the public is invited to attend.
