Illustration

Birds, Nature, Landcscapes, Photography, and More!

brianleefritz

Things making me happy lately Come see me tomorro

Things making me happy lately

Come see me tomorrow at Upjohn Park in Kalamazoo for @kzooaudubon's Migratory Bird Festival!

It's all about the process. So embrace it, becau

It's all about the process.

So embrace it, because that's what makes the end result worthwhile.

See you at the Kalamazoo Audubon's Migratory Bird Day this Saturday!

Paint some color into your life! The easiest and

Paint some color into your life!

The easiest and most cost-efficient way to change your home's vibe is adding color, especially painting an accent wall.

Taping, priming and painting took me the better part of an afternoon last week. It's actually pretty quick if you're only doing a single accent wall. I want to add more later, but that's a different project at a different time.

Who wants to see me hang up a gallery wall next? 😁

Find me tomorrow at the @howellnaturecenter for Mi

Find me tomorrow at the @howellnaturecenter for Migratory Bird Day!

Come see what I've been up to this off-season and explore the park! There's tons of family-friendly activities celebrating birds and @captainsonmain is also going to be there with the pizza.

It'll be a great time! Everything is covered with park admission. I recommend that you make a day of it, you'll enjoy yourself.

Saturday May 8th, 10-5
Howell Nature Center

GET SOME COLOR IN YOUR EYES, ITS GOOD FOR YOU! Wa

GET SOME COLOR IN YOUR EYES, ITS GOOD FOR YOU!

Watch me talk with my hands in this interview with @j__tracey for Coffee and Grit! 🤣

Is your home bland and boring? Is it failing to represent the person you're becoming?

What would you like to change the most about your home? What colors inspire you?

May the Fourth be with you. This is first of thre

May the Fourth be with you.

This is first of three panels for a huge fan, one for each of the original movies.

Remember, this isn't so much about the movie as it is about passion. Michael, my client, is a passionate person. In everything he does. It's all in, all the time. And of course this is no different. First run comics, all the figurines, there's a shelf for Legos built into these panels!

And I love that! The intensity of his passion and his energy for this vision was a huge part of bringing this piece to life and will be essential in making the next two! I love working with passionate people!

6 1/2 x 4 1/2 feet
Acrylic on aluminum composite panel

Are you passionate about something? Maybe I can help you celebrate it! Message me and let's get started!

This little white tailed deer fawn is named Peanut

This little white tailed deer fawn is named Peanut and she’s extraordinary.

Just like the rest of you, I’m a sucker for a feel-good story about wildlife.

And today I have a great one for you!

Last winter, a little fawn was found freezing to death somewhere outside of Detroit. The person who found her drove her to a local wildlife rehabilitation clinic, Detroit Animal Welfare Group, or DAWG for short. They were able to nurse her back to health, but that was only the beginning of the story for this little deer!

They named her Peanut. She suffered a little brain damage from being out in the cold so long, so her sight was pretty bad. The people at DAWG didn’t feel she was releasable.

But the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has rules about keeping wildlife, even for rehab purposes. One of these is that all deer need to be released by October (I think that’s the rule) or euthanized. This is to make sure they have enough time to find food to make it through the winter.

But little Peanut wasn’t in a place to be released. She was recovering, but woudn’t get there fully.

As the deadline approached, DAWG went on a full scale publicity campaign online and got the attention of the Howell Nature Center.

After some public pressure and state legislature intervention, Peanut was released to the Howell Nature Center to live the rest of her days with their little herd of deer.

Prancing happily ever after! Really!

Come visit her tomorrow at the Howell Nature Center and carve a block with me!

To think we met nine years ago. Love you to the

To think we met nine years ago.

Love you to the moon and back. Forever and ever. Thanks for being a silly goose with me.

Life lately. May is about to get crazy, so I'm en

Life lately.
May is about to get crazy, so I'm enjoying the calm before it all hits.

Like a lot of people my age, I take photos as a sort of visual diary. They also serve as reference material and inspiration.

The willow in the lake at Kensington that I always admire as I ride past, no matter how many times I go by.

The violets right outside the front porch.

The cat sleeping in her favorite spot.

It's all visual poetry to me. I get a feeling, I take a picture.

Please enjoy the following feelings.

They're all a little different. They're supposed

They're all a little different.
They're supposed to be different.
We're all a little different.
That's kind of my point.

Printmaking, specifically block printing, is kind of a form of mass production that still maintains a lot of the handmade nature of the artwork being produced and reproduced. The wobbles, the jitter, the imperfections.

So I took it a step further and painted each of these loons with watercolor. Individually.

Why? Two reasons. One is practical, one is thematic.

First, I don't know if there's a reasonable way to pull off this vision of a loon in stained glass in just blocks alone. The registration would be impossible. The drying time would be ridiculous. And a jigsaw approach would probably drive me crazy by the end. So I used a technique that's reasonably common, but I took it a step further than I've seen anybody else I've seen: I painted the colors in watercolor!

Second, each of these prints is now a completely individual work of art unto itself. Maybe not fully a painting, but it's definitely more than just a print. It lives in an interesting space between the two, but each one is different.

Come see these loons and more at the @peninsular_printmaker_fair tomorrow at @urbanrestbrewing in Ferndale, 12 to 8!

The process to make the Stained Glass Peacock. I

The process to make the Stained Glass Peacock.

I think my most frequently asked question might be "how long does it take to make that?"

This print in particular took about a day and a half to design and carve, a day to print the edition in my friend's studio, way too long to dry, and each one takes about an hour to paint up.

I wanted to share a little bit of the process of making my latest print so that you can really see and understand the time and effort that I put into it.

It's easy to think that the art that's put before you for an instant was itself made in an instant. It was not. Everything takes time.

This peacock in particular was a challenge as well as a labor of love. It's my biggest print on actual linoleum so far and I didn't really anticipate how long it would take to paint. I thought the stained glass loon took a while to paint up, but the peacock takes so much longer!

The Stained Glass Peacock is a 9x12 print on 12x16 paper, matted up to 16x20 for easy framing.

You can find it in my shop, or see it in person at the @peninsular_printmaker_fair this Saturday at @urbanrestbrewing in Ferndale, from 12 to 8.

I recorded a podcast episode with @j__tracey for C

I recorded a podcast episode with @j__tracey for Coffee and Grit and it's out today! You can find it on Spotify or Apple Music by searching "Coffee and Grit Everything Around You is a Choice."

We got deep into our feelings and talked about how the space around you both affects and reflects you and how everything you put in your home is a choice. If you know how to get the best, why would you settle?

In this clip, I explain why the Northern Mockingbird is my favorite bird. They're not flashy, but they're impressive and creative. I've learned over the years that I'm basically a mockingbird. I take the things I see around me that I love, I collect them, and I make them into my own song that reflects me and who I am and where I've been. I've also helped people along on their own journey of making their homes reflect their stories.

My goal with art, and specifically with my Build Your Nest project, is to help you collect those beautiful things for your home so you too can sing your own song.

Post #2500! Time for a little reintroduction. My

Post #2500! Time for a little reintroduction.

My name is Brian Fritz and I help nature lovers fill their spaces with colorful and meaningful artwork so they can feel inspiration in their homes every day.

I am driven by a deep love of nature, storytelling, color, symbolism, and the emotional impact that art can have on people's lives. Birds, wildlife, landscapes, and the natural world serve as both my artistic inspiration and philosophical guide.

For me, art is not decoration, it is a language.

It is how I process life, grief, joy, anxiety, healing, and meaning. My work is rooted in observation of the natural world and the belief that beauty and reflection should be part of everyday life. That means that everyone deserves to be surrounded by beautiful things. Including you.

Make a Red Winged Blackbird print with me for Spri

Make a Red Winged Blackbird print with me for Spring!

This is one of my new prints for the spring show season. I made it because I actually really love Red Winged Blackbirds! For me, their call is a sign of Spring and a reminder that, like all things, Winter does end.

Enjoy the printing process as the frogs in the pond at my parents house narrate.

I will be watercoloring them up for the final product, message me for a link.

Signs of Spring A Red Winged Blackbird in the cat

Signs of Spring

A Red Winged Blackbird in the cattails. I can hear his call now.

It reminds me of home every time.

Do you love them or hate them?

Painting my Grief: the Story of Violet and the Wol

Painting my Grief: the Story of Violet and the Wolves

I recently recorded and episode of the local podcast Coffee and Grit with Jason Tracey. It was a great time and we had a wonderful, wide-ranging discussion about art and meaning and why you should collect original art instead of mass produced decor.

In this clip, I tell the story of Violet and turning my grief and pain into beauty and inspiring other people to talk about pregnancy loss. So much of my art is a healing journey and it always amazes me how many people go through these same experiences and don't talk about it.

Bryce Canyon. Take me back there! Found this pic

Bryce Canyon. Take me back there!

Found this pic looking for references for a project I'm starting. The hoodoos of Bryce Canyon are otherworldly and endlessly inspiring. May 2023.

Pull a print with me as an early spring rain does

Pull a print with me as an early spring rain does the voiceover.

Come with me to a quiet rainy day with little to do but make prints.

The print is an American Woodcock, a spring favorite. I love the way they dance around and their aerial mating ritual is incredible.

They're also really cute. I hope you get to see one this year.

Proof of life Because if I don't post, I don't ex

Proof of life

Because if I don't post, I don't exist 🙄

So here's a shot of my messy desk in my messy studio. It's not all glamorous. In case you thought it was.

Sometimes (often), the pursuit of making beautiful things ends up, uh...like this. There's like six different projects going on here. I'm prepping for the Printmaker Fair at the end of the month, but also the first half of art fair season. Every weekend in May is taken. And most of June too!

So excuse me for not posting an entertaining reel with a hook or whatever today. I have STUFF to do!

Carve a block with me, as my cat narrates. Thank

Carve a block with me, as my cat narrates.

Thank you for your contributions, Marshmallow.

Can you identify the bird? It's a little niche, but y'all are bird nerds like me.

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