Art / Travel: Hetty Fredrickson’s Art – A Whole New Adventure Begins

Our story, published last October, about the art of Hetty Muldar-Fredickson has had some interesting responses and results. From Manitoba to Montreal, from Chilliwack to The Netherlands it has been around.

Last fall we published Art / Travel: Valley Of 1,000 Faces – Lost Art Of Hetty Fredrickson, by Caroline Archer, about Hetty Fredrickson’s unique talent and legacy.

Last week a woman from Manitoba, who wishes to remain anonymous, got in touch with us asking how she could communicate with the story’s author. We helped her do so and, as a result a whole series of events have begun their mysterious way across the internet.

Hetty Fredrickson, you may remember, was a very talented artist who lived in Chilliwack and, as her son remembers, turned everything into art or a craft of some sort.

Later in life she moved to Vancouver Island and, adding to the many other creative things she had done in her life, Hetty created the Valley of a Thousand Faces.

That story itself is fascinating – four acres of park like forest bordering the highway and the White River, fenced and winding through the forest. The Village of a Thousand Faces must have been spectacular!
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Update:
Back to January 2011: The reason the woman from Manitoba wanted to get in touch with the author of the story is that she has an original Hetty Fredrickson tree plank painting of Pierre Trudeau.

When she started searching for the artist she came across the Today story and got in touch with us.

She would like to see the painting go to Justin Trudeau and we are trying to get in touch with him on her behalf.
In case Justin is not interested, she feels that the painting needs to be reunited with the other works so she has contacted the Cypress Tree Inn to see if they have built their planned gallery yet and if they are interested in adding this piece to the collection.

We’ve been in touch with Hetty’s family in Holland. Her son Dik Walraven is also an artist and we asked him about the paintings.

He told us, “The portrait of Trudeau is one of the first of 3000 faces my mother painted for the Valley of 1000 Faces. If its in one piece I would be surprised. This is probably done with house paint for the outside. She did one more in oil paint on masonite. Could be either one.”

We have also begun the process of trying to get in touch with Justin Trudeau and hope to hear back soon. We’ll update you as the story progresses.

Hetty’s Trudeau Art:

Note: The line from the forehead to the eye, is a crack from natural aging of the wood. On the back you can see the signature of Hetty and the year 69. What appears to be white, is the Natural Sap from the wood on and around Hetty’s name.

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Art / Travel: Valley Of 1,000 Faces – Lost Art Of Hetty Fredrickson

Unsere Mutter By Dik Walraven

Dik Walraven’s

Dutch artist Dik Walraven lives and works in The Hague, The Netherlands.

He studied at the Free Academy of Arts in The Hague.
dikwalraven@hetnet.nl