Category: Holly Friesen

Invitation to Member Exhibit at the Manhattan Arts Center

7/12/2024

WATERCOLORS by Holly Friesen
Every watercolor painting tells a story with warm colors of yellow, orange, pink- soothing colors of green, blues, violet-starry nights, mountain scenes, flower expressions, a Dream Cottage and more. Added to the collection are two other works of art: Happy Tulips rendered in pastel and Before Christmas Morning, drawn with India ink and a stick.

Hours for Holly’s Hallway Show at the Manhattan Arts Center are:

Noon to 5:30pm
Tuesdays through Fridays
JULY 2nd - JULY 26th

1500 Poyntz, Manhattan, KS

PURCHASE CARDS, MINI POSTERS, PRINTS of the ORGINAL PAINTINGS
Send a special message to your friends, family and those who need some encouragement with a cards, prints and mini-posters in your home.

THREE ORIGINAL PAINTINGS and ONE PASTEL are for SALE- Spring Rose, Butterflies, Gus-Gus the Goldfish and Happy Tulips

BONUS: TWO Beautiful Children's Books written by Holly:
1. Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach which won the Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Award in 2022.

2. Five True Rusty Stories, as told to our children growing up by Holly's husband Rob. These are adventures of his beagle puppy Rusty while growing up in the '70s in Tampa, Florida, will become a treasure to your whole family.

2022 "It Looks Like a Million" Book Design Award

11/10/2022

“It Looks Like a Million” Book Award
Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach
by H.C. Friesen

Note from the Judges:
Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach is our choice for the “It Looks Like a Million” Book Award. The book has a fresh, cohesive look. Title, cover (including the notes on the back cover), chapter headings, illustrations, and lessons on how to use watercolor pencils all present a story of the growth of a young artist. The illustrations of author/illustrator H.C. Friesen flow with the plot and highlight the setting, i.e., a beach (with yellow beach house) and surrounding points of interest in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The original paintings of the 9 to 10-year old Grace Baity track the artistic growth of 9 to 10-year old Janey Olsen. The layout integrates text and illustrations smoothly. The typeface is easy to read. The watery blue endpapers reflect the setting. A simple family tree of the main characters, a map of the Outer Banks, a pronunciation guide, and “How to” advice from Janey herself provide appropriate resources for young readers. Overall, the book has the feel of a children’s book that takes children’s talents seriously.

Jenny Russell and the Team at JenRus Freelance
2022 “It Looks Like a Million” Book Judges

Jenny Russell grew up in Glen Elder, Kansas, and graduated with a degree in Business, Communications and Marketing, from Bethany College. Russell has now worked in Economic Development, marketing, advertising, and websites for almost fifteen years. The company also provides graphic design services through their 314 Graphic Design division. This time included five years with Brush Art Corporation, a marketing and advertising agency out of Downs, Kansas, and now nine years in Economic Development. An emphasis in working with and structuring websites led Russell to Internet Marketing and the establishment of JenRus Freelance Marketing in 2008.

"It Looks Like A Million" Award Winners

2022 Children's Book Award Winner

11/3/2022

Note from the Judge:
The recipient of the Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Award is Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach, written and illustrated by H.C. Friesen with original paintings by Grace Baity. Janey Olsen shares with its readers what it means to be an artist. The protagonist, who turns ten during this formative summer vacation, is inspired by her innate desire to create art, and she is supported in her efforts by other artists in her family, including a mother who makes and sells jewelry and a cousin who is an emerging photographer. These are people who understand, take seriously, support, and value this child’s artistic impulses. Janey experiments with different media while aspiring to be recognized at the upcoming Festival of the Arts, and we are privy to her development as we turn the pages of the volume and see the charming and engaging pictures that she is making. Almost every page has some visual enhancement, nurturing and perpetuating the theme of the novel. In the process of honing her craft, Janey learns how to see others more clearly, becoming a kinder and more generous person and learning to value collaboration and community rather than competition. Friesen offers a strong sense of her novel’s setting, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, including visual attributes such as a map, photographs, and evocative illustrations throughout the volume. Moreover, her volume offers wonderful resources in its back matter, including Janey’s own list of tips for “How to Be a Famous Artist of the Beach” as well as Friesen’s rich resource unit for drawing and coloring a lighthouse, among other materials. Beautiful endpapers enhance the total design of her volume. Altogether, this is a well-unified and beautiful book, and its form astutely enhances its themes.

Professor Anne K. Phillips
2022 Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Judge

Anne K. Phillips is Professor of English at Kansas State University. A specialist in children’s and adolescent literature, she has published and edited numerous works on authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louise Erdrich, Andrew Clements, and others. She teaches courses such as illustration in children’s literature, film adaptations of children’s classics, American history through family sagas in children’s literature, and more. A Past President of the international Children’s Literature Association, the Modern Language Association’s division on children’s literature, and the Louisa May Alcott Society, Phillips has served on the Kansas Notable Books Committee and the William Allen White (Kansas children’s choice award) Selection Committee.

H.C. and Rob Friesen: Holly is the author of Janey Olsen Famous Artist of the Beach, winner of the 2022 Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award.

Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award Winners

May Open Mic Featuring D4 Member, Holly Friesen

5/8/2022

D3/D4 is inviting KAC members to attend Open Mic! It takes place Tuesday, May 10, at 7:00pm via Zoom. Our featured reader is new D4 member, Holly Friesen. We look forward to this opportunity to get to know Holly and her writing.

How does Open Mic work?
7:00-7:10pm – we check in, sign up to read, greet each other and celebrate victories
7:10-7:30pm – our Featured Reader presents
7:30-7:55 – Readers share in order of sign-up. Plan on 3 minutes. If there is plenty of time, attendees will get a 2nd opportunity to read.

H. C. Friesen: K-State Graduate, author, illustrator, watercolorist, and teacher of the Joy of Drawing Classes is excited to announce her self-published books are now ready for reading!

Holly Catherine Friesen grew up surrounded by Kansas relatives who were musicians, artists, authors, and storytellers, so naturally, she loved to sing, draw and write. Ms. Holly earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design and later Elementary Education from Kansas State University. She is a trained puppeteer, singer/songwriter, and watercolorist, and loves to draw especially with watercolor pencils. She saw the need for children to see the beauty of the natural world around them: the light, colors, shapes, and lines, and then be inspired to create what they saw. She created lessons for her class she calls “The Joy of Drawing from Real Life and Pictures”. Since 1994, she has been teaching children and adults to draw, paint, use pastel, and make original cards. She has always wanted to be an illustrator and children’s book writer, and to publish her poems and stories.

This year, her dreams are coming true. Her first self-published children’s book, with over 100 illustrations, along with students’ artwork from her Joy of Drawing Classes, Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach, has sold close to 100 copies in the first month. It showcases her method for teaching drawing in the location of the Atlantic Ocean on the Outer Banks of North Carolina through the eyes of 10-year-old Janey, who wants to hang her pictures in the family's booth at the area art show and become famous.

To see more of Ms. Holly’s watercolor cards, prints, and children’s books, view her website, HCFriesen.com. She has three grown daughters, five lively grandchildren and lives in the “Art House” in Kansas with her Russian Blue cat named Prussia. A few of her many writing awards: At age sixteen, her poem, “The Looking Glass,” about a cat who sees “The Other” in the mirror, was published in the Young Kansas Writers. Her short biography called Lestle Wilber Newcomer, the Kansas Man, won the Jesse Perry Stratford Award for Excellence in Historical Writing, presented by the Butler County Historical Society (1988).

For this short author's talk, Holly will talk about the inspiration for the characters in story, Janey Olsen Famous Artist of the Beach, the process of putting the self-published story together, read a few parts of the story, as well as show a few of the watercolor pencil drawings she and her students have done for the book.

H.C. Friesen Website

Welcome New Member Holly Friesen

3/2/2022

Today, we welcome Holly Friesen of Manhattan to the Kansas Authors Club.

Here's a little about Holly:

Holly Catherine Friesen grew up surrounded by Kansas relatives who were musicians, artists, authors, and storytellers, so naturally, she loves to sing, draw and write. Ms. Holly earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design and later Elementary Education from Kansas State University. She is a trained puppeteer, singer/songwriter, watercolorist, loves to draw especially with watercolor pencils. She created lessons for her class she calls “The Joy of Drawing from Real Life and Pictures”. Since 1994, she has been teaching children and adults to draw, paint, use pastel, and make original pop-up cards with paper cuts outs and designs to give away.

She has always wanted to be an illustrator, a children’s book writer, and publish her poems and stories. This year, her dreams are coming true. Her first self-published children’s book, with over 100 of her illustrations, along with students’ artwork from her Joy of Drawing Classes, Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach, has sold close to 100 copies the first month. It showcases her method for teaching drawing in the location of the Atlantic Ocean on the Outer Banks of North Carolina through the eyes of 10-year-old Janey, who wants to hang her pictures in the family booth and become famous.

An upcoming book in production is called Five True Rusty Stories, taken from her husband’s memories of the beagle he grew up in Tampa Florida. Includes: Rusty and the Pancakes, Rusty and the Cheese, Rusty and the Bones, Rusty and the Postman, and Rusty and the Cat. Other poems, skits, and songs are in the line for release as funds are made available. A few past awards: At age sixteen, her poem The Looking Glass-about a cat who sees “The Other” in the mirror was published in the Young Kansas Writers. Her short biography called Lestle Wilber Newcomer, the Kansas Man, won the Jesse Perry Stratford Award for Excellence in Historical Writing, presented by the Butler County Historical Society(1988).

She has three grown daughters, five lively grandchildren and lives in the “Art House” in Kansas with her Russian Blue cat named Prussia. To see more of Ms. Holly’s watercolor cards, prints, and children’s books, order current books from her website, go to HCFriesen.com.

Invitation to Member Exhibit at the Manhattan Arts Center

2022 "It Looks Like a Million" Book Design Award

2022 Children's Book Award Winner

May Open Mic Featuring D4 Member, Holly Friesen

If you would like to join - request Zoom Link Here

Welcome New Member Holly Friesen

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