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News-Journal/BARBARA SALTER
Fred Haase will be the featured artist at
Ocean Books & Art in Flagler Beach for the
month of August. His exhibit begins with
an opening reception Friday .
Artist Fred Haase dots Ocean Books and Art
with colorful images
BARBARA SALTER
CORRESPONDENT
Published: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.
PALM COAST Artist Fred Haase describes
his style as "a cross between Toulouse Lautrec
and Andy Warhol." His colorful images are
startling, thought-provoking and just plain fun.
Haase will be the featured artist at Ocean Books
& Art in Flagler Beach throughout August,
beginning with an opening reception Friday.
This will be the first one-man show for the
Flagler Beach artist.
The show, "Herons & Vettes," will include 15
paintings encompassing diverse subjects ranging from birds and other gifts of nature
to the dashboard of a 1959 Corvette Haase owns. While the subject matter may be
different, the style is the same. The images are strong, almost electric and it's almost
impossible not to feel the energy within. The vibrant colors are what they are, not
what they should be.
"Obviously, I like bright colors," he said. "I use color and graphics to create motion
and depth in the picture."
Haase said the paintings offer different things to each viewer.
"The fun of the paintings is that they are ambiguous. Different people see different
images in the same painting," he said. "Colors, shapes, and motion within a painting
guide a viewer's impression of that painting.
"The effect a painting has on a viewer relates to the person's experiences as much as
the painting itself."
Influenced by his artistic mother and fueled by some "good teachers," Haase always
had a passion for art. He didn't start painting professionally, however, until 2009.
In 1967, Haase was a student at Mankato State University in Minnesota, where he
was majoring in acrylic painting and sculpture.
"I was on Thanksgiving break. It was so cold. I hopped on my motorcycle and drove
all the way to Florida," Haase said.
Luck was with him and he landed a job working as a sketch artist for NASA during
the Apollo Space Program.
"It was a wonderful job for a 23-year-old kid," he said, "I would sketch the
astronauts as they practiced. I loved that job. I got laid off at the end of Apollo,
otherwise I'd probably still be there. "
After that, his career as an artist took Haase in another direction. He went from

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sketching people to drafting technical drawing. One thing led to another and he
earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Miami and
embarked on a career as an entrepreneur.
His art was not forgotten and after he retired in 2009, Haase found time to pursue
painting. Although he lived in Daytona Beach, he found himself drawn to Flagler
Beach.
"It just feels like a town you grew up in," he said. "It reminds me of Key West, in a
way. Then you go five miles north or south and you're in condo country."
Hasse has lived in Flagler Beach for two and a half years now. He rides his bike
around town, often to the Flagler farmers market. On one of those trips, he stopped
at Ocean Books & Art and spoke to gallery owner Frank Gromling.
"I'd been looking for a gallery to show my work, but didn't like any that I'd seen,"
Haase said. "I really wanted to go with a Flagler Beach gallery. Ocean Books & Art is
a great location and Frank is working to upgrade the quality of artists and was
seeking new faces."
Gromling is delighted to feature Haase's work.
"He is an interesting man genuine and humble. When I saw his work, the colorful
paintings and the whimsy, I realized Fred has a lot of talent. I hadn't seen anything
like it before," said Gromling. "It's edgy without being too far out. It's worth taking
the risk that it will work in Ocean Books & Art."
Both Gromling and Haase built their careers on taking risks. Haase, however, doesn't
consider it a huge risk.
"The show will be fun for me. I've already been meeting some artists in the gallery
and the camaraderie and the friendships from that are amazing," he said.
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