"As I have aged, I have become very passionate about the land of the Northwest, but it is the water that I seem to find most fascinating. Philosophically, I find the connection of water to the land very interesting and compelling. Artistically, it is the elusive interplay of it and light that I find the most challenging. Every time I paint a body of water the problems require different solutions, whether it is dancing reflections or the illusion of transparency, water never fails to challenge me."
Fred Choate is a fourth generation Idaho native. He was born in Wendell and grew up in Buhl and Twin Falls. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Idaho State University. His "art" career began in high school, making spending money painting monster hot rods on sweatshirts. He also illustrated his senior yearbook. In 1982 Fred began his "full time" art career painting large murals around the Northwest. In 1997 landscape painters Tom Szewc and Ovanes Berberian introduced Fred to plein air painting. Since then his full time passion has been painting the Southern Idaho landscape. Within a one-hour drive from his home in Boise you can find deep canyons, deserts, alpine lakes and farmlands. He is beginning to find, however, that it is the relationship of water to the land that really fascinates him. No two bodies of water refract and reflect light in the same way. Attempting to capture this elusive quality of water is what keeps painting exciting for Fred.
