Artist
Steve Fretwell
Steve Fretwell is a Toronto based artist who failed the build the colour wheel assignment in grade 8 art class then picked up the artists paintbrush 41 years later. He began painting on July 1st 2019. His first paintings were a series of 50 "Military Portraits" demonstrating the development of Steve's unique and quirky portrait style. He followed up with the "Roundels" series beginning in 2020, exploring the opposite side of military camouflage. His current focus is " From Above", a series of abstract landscape interpretations inspired by military aerial reconnaissance photographs taken in advance of the allied liberation of Europe along with aerial search patterns used by Allied Forces in their hunt for German U Boats during the battle of the North Atlantic in WWII. He draws his artistic inspiration from the details of military uniforms, traditional military portraits, visualization of military data and procedure, aerial reconnaissance photography, campaign maps, nautical charts, propaganda posters, the machines of warfare and the use of colour and design to both disguise and reveal. With visits to England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany he's traced the footsteps of the participants of the two great wars.
