Aaron Fritz re-evaluated his priorities in 1998, after the near drowning of his son showed him how short life can be.
"I thought, there are a couple of things I want to do in my lifetime, and picking up a brush is one of them -- getting back into art and painting," he said.
He got back into painting in a big way, and is the featured artist at the Eccles Community Art Center in December. The exhibit opens with a reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. next Friday, and also includes displays of jewelry by Madeline McDonald. McDonald, of Ogden, uses colorful natural gems to reflect her love of the West.
Fritz, of South Weber, is known for creating contemporary landscape paintings.
"I'm a major outdoor person -- I get depressed staring at four walls," he said, explaining his love of the landscape. "We do snowmobiling and skiing in the winter ... and I'm an avid fly fisherman, and spend a lot of time on rivers."
But these landscapes aren't traditional representations of the scenery -- the trees and meadows are made with swirls and twirls of the artist's brush.
Fritz says one of his neighbors, a good friend, compares his work to that of another painter.
"He says, 'You look like van Gogh, and you know he was crazy, don't you?' "Fritz said, admitting, "I am a big van Gogh fan."
Fritz paints in a home studio, usually while listening to Pink Floyd or U2 -- and the louder the music, the more swirly the painting.
The vivid colors in his art are set off by dark, contrasting colors in the background.
"I typically start my design process months in advance," he said, in a statement about his work. "The hints of adjacent tones in the under-painting bring out the strong vibrant colors of my subjects."
Fritz's style has changed over the last five years. His older paintings were less swirly, with thicker brush strokes.
"I still have demand for both," he said, "So I'll switch back and forth."
The joy of painting
Fritz has always had an interest in art.
"When other kids would be out playing, I'd be in doodling on a piece of paper," he said. "I think you're born with some natural ability, and the good Lord did bless me."
He says he learned a lot from his high school art teacher, well-known Huntsville painter Steve Songer, but an art career didn't seem like an option after high school.
"I think parents worry you're going to live with them until you're 45, if you pick art as your degree," Fritz said.
So he went into business and ran a mortgage company. He still runs the company, but also has artwork in galleries in Park City and Salt Lake City, as well as Vail and Aspen in Colorado, and Palm Desert, Calif.
"I am a full-time artist," he said. "I paint from 10 p.m. to 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning."
Some people wonder why he doesn't concentrate solely on art, but Fritz says it's a good thing to have both jobs -- it takes away some of the pressure of making a living at art.
"It's why I can paint what I want to paint," he said.
PREVIEW
- WHAT: Paintings by Aaron Fritz; jewelry by Madeline McDonald
- WHEN: Opens with a reception 5-8 p.m. Dec. 2; continues 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays, through Dec. 30
- WHERE: Eccles Community Art Center, 2580 Jefferson Ave., Ogden
- ADMISSION: Free; 801-392-6935, www.ogden4arts.org