Feature Friday: Windsor’s Inspirational Artist

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Here at AngelStar Digital, we’re a team of passionate designers & producers who have been assisting local business owners achieve their goals & dreams for over 25+ years. In all these years we’ve been operating, we have met a lot of people, learned about their business, what drives them, and their life stories. We love to converse with our clients, get to know them, and build relationships with them.

With COVID-19, political tensions & natural disasters crowding our news outlets, it has brought a lot of negativity into our lives, and the world as a whole. Lately, we have been trying to fill our followers’ news feeds with positive content focused around small business motivation, and featuring local talent in our weekly Friday postings.

However there is one talented individual, with a heart of gold who recently struck my attention….meet Frederick Mason.

Frederick was born in the Town of Leamington, July 1940. He was employed by J. P. Thomson Associates, Architects & Engineers of Windsor,  prior to teaching Architecture & Interior Design for the Windsor Board of Education for over THIRTY years. He earned his B. A. majoring in visual arts at the University of Windsor and his B. ED at the University of Toronto. Frederick fell in love with oil painting around 1985, while he was teaching.

Here’s what Frederick had to say:

“I have been oil painting since 1985. I fell in love with the brush and oil when I went back to University of Windsor to earn one of my degrees while teaching Architecture for the Windsor Board of Education. Teachers do not get raises for how good they teach, they get raises for how much education they have gathered. Never made sense to me. So, this is when I fell in love with oil painting. 

Each time I have painted a subject, I will offer it to them and as long as they hang it up for all to see…..it’s theirs. I love to please people with my artwork. It does not matter if the subject of a painting is not about them, they still take it when offered and hang it up for all to see.”

One of the things that shocked me, was that Frederick told us that in all these years of painting he has NEVER sold one of his pieces. He’s donated almost every piece that he created on one condition…you hang it up for the world to see! Frederick has created many paintings, and has offered them to many local businesses & organizations over the years.

However Frederick’s work has also been enjoyed outside of Windsor-Essex. One of his pieces titled “Global Warming” was even sent to PM Justin Trudeau!

If you thought that was impressive, Frederick even sent a painting to the Louvre in Paris! Which is known as the world’s most visited museum! The painting is of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire.

Frederick’s creates all forms of art pieces, and doesn’t limit himself to one style of painting. He paints a lot of landscapes, skylines, and even art with deeper meaning. Take a look at the piece below. This painting is titled “Where do we go?”.

In this painting Frederick tries to convey a message that global warming isn’t just about humanity, it’s about mother earth’s creatures too! Did you notice the continents were formed to resemble animals? Which ones do you see?

Frederick is a very talented individual, his artwork & charity are a beaming light of positivity in the world, which is why we decided to share his story, and we hope that you will share his story too! Below I have attached more of Frederick’s’ work for you to enjoy! Thank you for reading, and thank you to Frederick for telling us about yourself and letting us feature you!

Windsor, ON: The Pizza City.

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Windsor, Ontario…

A city heavily reliant on the auto industry, family bonds, and traditions.

From the outside looking in, we tend to get a bad rep.

People see our city as dirty, boring, and as Stephen Colbert famously quoted “Canada’s Rectum”.

What many of these outsiders don’t realize is, our city has a lot of heart, culture, and deep history.

From the indigenous tribes that roamed the land, to the underground railroad, to the rum runners…our city was a hot spot of history, and tourism.

I’m a proud Windsorite. I’ve lived in other cities, and no place has felt as much of a home as Windsor has. One of the smaller things that I took for granted living abroad, was how great our pizza scene is. In other cities, a common question I’ve asked was “What’s your go-to pizza joint,” and a shocking amount of answers I received were either Domino’s, Pizza Pizza, or some other big name pizza chain…

Being from Windsor, I’m a serious pizza critic…it’s no game. However, I’m not the only one who feels this way…most Windsorites do.

Recently, I came across an upcoming documentary by LRG Super, a GTA based content creation team. The intent behind the film is to put Windsor pizza on the map, next to big name pizza cities like Detroit, New Haven, Chicago, and New York.

 

Our pizza scene is so serious, that you can even become a member of the Windsor Pizza Club! What’s included with membership? Well they are currently partnered with 8 different pizza joints in the city, and if you visit all 8 you can win a free shirt! This is a great way to try out the best of the best in the YQG area, show your support, and most importantly…local restaurants help keep us fed, so it’s only right to give them business and help return the favour.

I’m a sucker for a good story, especially when food is involved. I grew up as a picky eater, but I’ve learned to respect the process, history, tradition, and flavours behind the scenes, and it has made me extremely grateful for local restaurant owners and good eats.

Windsor pizza sure is delicious, and unique..but do you think we can compete with these big name cities? Let us know!

Help show our appreciation for the community, and LRG Super by purchasing their merch and helping them continue to tell the untold stories we deserve to hear!