Newsmakers - As seen by Herb Hake
Cartoon #20 Published 1-04-1977
Doris Frandsen

A visit in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Frandsen reveals more polished rocks than framed watercolors.  There are two reasons for this.  First, both husband and wife are rock collectors.  (When they were married in 1937, Clarence took an orange crate full of agates, corals and geodes on the wedding journey for trading with other collectors.  Doris wrote a story about it called “Honeymoon on the Rocks.”)  Second, there are few watercolors on display because they are sold almost as soon as Doris finishes painting them.  In the past 34 years, she has sold nearly a thousand paintings to private collectors and public galleries.

She was born in Cottonwood County, Minnesota, but most of her landscapes reflect life in Iowa-old depots, bridges, mills and rural scenes which she observed during her years as a farm wife and mother.  The Frandsens moved to town in 1955.
Her first art teacher was Jesse Loomis, who conducted a painting class in a second floor studio owned by the Nuhn family in downtown Cedar Falls.  Later, she took lessons by correspondence from Art Instruction Schools in Minneapolis, and studied watercolor techniques with Irving Shapiro of the American Watercolor Society.
Doris has exhibited her paintings widely, and one wall of her workroom is covered with ribbons she has won in national, regional and state competition.  One of her paintings was chosen for the Northwestern Bell Telephone Calendar.  She is the “Show Arranger” for the Waterloo Art Association, as well as a member of the Board of Directors.  She has just completed a term as President of the Amateur Iowa Artists, and is now Editor of the Iowa Artists Newsletter, which is published four times a year and is mailed to the 460 members throughout the state.

At the moment, Doris is excited by the prospect of teaching her watercolor class at the YWCA in Waterloo for the eighth consecutive year.  The class meets from 9:00 to 11:00 on every Wednesday morning.  “I started painting for my own enjoyment,” Doris recalls.  “Now, I find even greater satisfaction in helping my students develop their talents.”