BIO

Robert Frasquillo

I am a fifth generation Arizonan, born and raised in the heart of Tucson. As the second of five children, I chose art as an individual hobby early on and was blessed enough to have parents that supported that dream. For good or bad, they did not know much about fine art. In elementary school I was introduced to a few professional artist acquaintances of my parents and was set up with some private lessons from a church member that painted. I made private plans of turning it into a career when I grew up but was not sure what that would look like. If that meant commercial art as a day job I figured that could work but I was much more interested in fine art and museums than of making entertainment or using it for money. In my young mind commercial art was just something fine artists could easily do for a day job. Later I realized they have separate skill sets, tools and processes. Although some creatives do try and find a balance with both, I would end up having a different kind of day job in manufacturing as an adult. By then I had already fallen in a love hate relationship with art. I hated it because I was always so far from my goal for it but, I loved it enough to never consider giving up on it. Now I still hope to find a place in the art world but I have become accustom to making art as a discipline more than as a job. If you want to read on I will explain more of the particulars of my journey. 

Practicing those methodical art principles I learned early helped to shape my foundational approach to drawing and eventually canvas painting. In addition to attending traditional public school as I grew up, I was able to learn through participating in organized sports, band, scouting, creative problem solving clubs, video games and church activities. My parents came from a small company town and taught me hard work, willingness to adapt and doing more with less. My father is one of the hardest workers I know and devotedly held multiple jobs including landscaping which he taught my siblings and I. His lifestyle was minimalist and his meticulous attention to detail in landscaping set an example of going above and beyond. My mother is a collector of vintage antiques and bravely ventured into small business attempts focused on crafts, furniture, real estate, as well as making a career in teaching children and hospitality. There was not a lot of time for art with all my activities and supporting my siblings equal amount of activities when possible but, the desire to study and make art was ever present and the older I got the harder it was to ignore.

When I did make time for art I attempted to build toward the work of historic icons that I could find books about or else I would study museums pieces in person. Without the modern internet, the gap between what I knew and the examples I was seeing in museums and books was baffling. Every attempt felt like a failure and even though quitting wasn't an option I would find it hard to deal with the disappointment and would take breaks for weeks or moths at a time.  Part of me must have known that I was incrementally improving each time I made a serious attempt but, I did not know how to improve more quickly. I was still dissatisfied with my abilities by the time I got to college age so I decided to try and take as many art classes as I could while working toward a practical degree at a community college.  I didn't have money for a special art academy so I attended institutions that provided financial aid assistance.  I worked at various jobs in healthcare, package handling and as a baker. It turned out my degree didn't end up including many art classes and most academics were not my strong suit. After finally receiving a general associates degree in Olympia, WA seven years after I graduated, I took out some loans and tried to go to an art college in Seattle that I was accepted to and received some scholarships for. Family trauma required me to abandon the school after only a few semesters.

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As circumstances determined by the time I was 30 I had been married, begun to father two children, divorced, and only had an associate's degree plus some random credits and a good chunk of student debt. I settled in a manufacturing job as a machine operator for a pharmaceutical company. After a while I transitioned to assembling diagnostics machines, and later peptide synthesizing machines. These positions paid the bills and reinforced the idea of complex processes being simplified by micro processes. Not all steps in good art can be systematized but I tried to glean what I could from the engineered manufacturing processes to apply it to making my art practice more streamline.  

As I did my best to fulfill my family obligations through work, I tried to carve out time for the routine practice of art making. Between working over time, trying to maintain my body health with exercise, church callings and college courses relating to potential job advancements, there was not much time for art projects. The consistent small efforts I was able to make barely kept me hopeful.  Eventually I decided I was stable enough to make art more of a priority. Now as I am venturing into my 40's, I have begun to try and concentrate the skills I have been working on toward a unified goal.  

My projects push my abilities toward exploring and conveying visually specific ideas that are hard for me to put in words but have been meaningful to my experience in some way. For that it is a personal language that I have built upon the many other's personal languages who have come before me.  I still work on building my art knowledge and refining techniques but the focus has shifted to wrapping my mind around where I might best thrive in the professional world of art making. I still am not sure but I made a casual instagram a few years ago to start sharing the journey of my art making with those who have supported me so much over the years as well as to explore the current art world, and support others who I find inspiring. As I am finding my path and occasionally taking side quests, this site is my newest attempt to provide my art practice with what it needs to continue to develop. This will hopefully be a more professional space where I can display finished pieces for sale and be able to more easily respond to art inquiries. I am also trying to use this platform to assist other art makers who I know on their art journey to get exposure and make sales. Hopefully it all gets better over time.

Thank you for your interest. 

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