Bobbie Friedman: Inside Scoop on Outsider Artist
Life is for laughter, says outsider artist Bobbie Friedman.
Outsider art is a genre that nearly defies genre , and includes artists who, for lack of a less elusive definition, paint for themselves, without any training or thought of the opinion of their audience. With, perhaps, the exception of Friedman. “I hope people smile when they look at my paintings,” she says.
That attitude is evident when speaking with the artist, a transplant from Maine. “I have an Eastern heart in a Western body,” she says, with a laugh. “I wanted to be a cowboy.” Her move from Maine (she describes herself as a “Maine-iac”) took her first to Detroit, and then to Chicago for eight years, before she finally settled in Arizona in 2000. She drove here with two labs and three cats to “defrost my soul and absorb the energy from the sun.”
It must have worked, because that energy manifests itself in her artwork. The first thing that strikes you about Friedman’s work is the variety of vibrant colors and shapes—colors that infuse you with energy and shapes that often defy logic. It cannot by any stretch of the imagination be classified as Southwestern art, but it does borrow the brighter hues of the land—the turquoises, teals, coppers, and clays—fusing them together with broad strokes of whimsy.
Friedman’s paintings run a wide range of shapes and subject matter. Pieces in her Puzzle Series are filled with wide swashes of deep, rich colors that would brighten any room. These fun abstracts are created in two pieces and hung a precise distance apart, thus appearing to be one painting rudely interrupted.
Other paintings present a complete change from the large shapes. Martian Indians 3 has hundreds of small lines, squiggles, and swirls in a myriad of hues. One of the most endearing of her works is Sami , a painting from a photograph of her yellow lab wearing red earrings. One can’t help but smile upon catching a glimpse of the friendly faced mutt.
Friedman comes from an artistic family. Both her parents, she says, were artsy-craftsy types, and her aunt and uncle are included in Who’s Who of American Artists. Friedman, however, was more interested in outdoor activities like polo, tennis, and skiing when she was young. It wasn’t until she bought her home in Cave Creek and looked at the bare walls that she decided to pick up a paintbrush and create her own decor. She’s been painting ever since.
Friedman also works as a physical therapist, and her work and art are melded in one particular group of paintings that depicts figures with disabilities engaged in sports activities. Friedman plans to trademark these as a set of posters. She hopes they’ll be sold at fund-raising events and used to draw awareness to the abilities rather than the disabilities of the physically challenged.
“I’d like to see the posters hanging in kids’ rooms to inspire them that people with disabilities can still do sports and be active,” she says. “There are so many servicemen coming back with disabilities, it would be neat for their kids to see they can still do things everyone else can do.”
As an outside artist, Friedman has no formal training. She says that many artists, including Picasso, felt that self-taught artists were purer in spirit and in the execution of their talent.
“Sometimes I’ll just start painting, and I’m surprised at what shows up on the canvas,” she says.
The quote on Friedman’s Web site reads, “My artistic goal is to infuse my art with images that light up a wall with whimsy.” She easily achieves that goal with her paintings, and in fact lights up a room herself, brightening a conversation just by being a part of it.
Bobbie Friedman’s work is represented by the Rosensteel Gallery in Phoenix. She also has signed, limited-edition giclée (digital inkjet fine-art) prints available. For more information, visit her Web site at bobbiefriedman.com.