The Life and Art of Frederic "Fred" Cogelow

The instances of dramatic foreshadowing in Fred’s childhood allow for many to assert that it was somehow “destiny” that he should become one of the continent’s most highly regarded woodcarvers.  Fred would instead argue that the successes in his half-century-plus devoted to the creation of “designer firewood” were the consequence of genetic disposition and compulsive disorders sequentially encountering influences and opportunities —and strategic dosages of cranial trauma.  The necessity of environmental adaptation in the philosophical realm led to his mythology of Rural Virtue, Ltd. © in his University of Chicago years.  Its reflections upon the human condition and the provincial milieu of which he’d always been a part found expression in following years in the observations, empathy and humor contained in his cellulosic portraiture.

In Willmar, Minnesota, Fred is as indigenous as they come, yet residing in his birthplace, the north-side home built for his Haines great-grandparents in 1900.  In his childhood role as caretaker for his late father's woodworking tools and shop, Fred was naturally intrigued by the wooden folk art produced by an elderly Norwegian neighbor. His 8th-grade art teacher saw potential and steered a special project Fred’s way (with mixed results).  That year somehow marked the end of his formal education in both art and woodworking.

When Fred headed off to the University of Chicago in the fall of ’67 to pursue a degree in political science, he found the campus’ neo-gothic architecture, with its carved stone gargoyles on the exterior and the carved woodwork within, as intriguing as his academic interests.

A cousin’s wife —a former kindergarten teacher— knowing him to be “good with kids”, devoid of career ambitions and soon to be at loose ends, suggested during his senior year that he might consider early childhood education.  That led to a summer stint with a Willmar Head Start and further exploration of such a course as a kindergarten aide. The experience ruled that out but led to becoming a counselor to adolescents in treatment at the Willmar State Hospital in 1972. 

It was there, while working the night shift, that an abandoned carving left behind by a resident caught his attention. It was little more than a 2×4 of pine, with one corner slightly rounded.  The Sunday paper with the “Pogo” comic strip lay nearby, and soon enough that wood became a rendition of Albert the Alligator seated in his car, “officially” his first carving. 

That went well enough that some real carving tools were soon ordered, and it was off to the races, so to speak, though it was, at the time, a mix of broader creativity.  The search for a ’36 Plymouth for a cousin had led to a friendship with an old Swedish bachelor and to catching sight of a burned-out wood stove with moderately ornate cast-iron ends next to an old oak barrel. Fred suggested the two ought be combined to make a cabinet.  The Swede, Adolph, told Fred he was nuts, …and Fred didn’t disappoint him.  The result was Fred’s first (moderately successful!) entry in the MN State Fair.

Prior to that cabinet, Fred had belatedly come to appreciate harness hames while at an antique auction on “Swede Hill.”  Captivated by the aesthetics of their S-shaped curves and accouterments, he soon devised three- and four-legged hames chairs with harness-leather seats. Soon enough he had a vision of entry to Sunburg in the next life— provided he’d collect a thousand hames.

In the fall of 1975, Fred left gainful employment to do a bit of travel, writing and woodworking. There ensued a passion for harvesting his own timber, and dreams of eternity in Sunburg succumbed to the need for a thickness planer, and the hames were sold.  The thought was to make furniture along with some carving, but seriously under-equipped and ill-educated, the carving proved more efficacious.

Odd carpentry jobs underwrote the endeavor to succeed at art fair sales, but reality dictated a return to employment in the fall of ’77 as director of the CETA in-school youth employment program for a four-county area. The administrator was earnestly promised two full years of his life, but sanity concerns directed moving on after 10 and a half months.  

Chance encounters led to a number of commissions, and an inquisitive girlfriend (Doris, soon enough to be his wife) led to contact with both the National Woodcarvers Association and its magazine and to the continent’s top two general carving competitions.  Fred’s first entries left them non-plussed, but in 1983 he rose to the top, and dominated, as no other, those shows —plus the short-lived Silver Dollar City show in Branson, Missouri— for the remainder of their runs, a period spanning three decades.

Fred has referred to himself as an “artist” only because of the modest deficiencies of English.  He is a creator of stuff, a sculptor, even, but overall merely a manifestation of Compulsive Creativity Disorder (CCD) ©. It is when else objects strike a strong responsive chord in the viewer that they become “art.”  It’s well and good to be recognized as a large COG on the small wheel of the carving world, but those honors pale in comparison to having viewers stop in their tracks and utter, “Oh my…!” at first catching sight of particular works.  His works are straightforward and unpretentious, lacking the embrace and the sophistry of elites.  

On several occasions, Fred was advised that his museum exhibitions would be merely sideshows to those of artists with more “cred”, only to be told post-reception that he’d have to be a solo or at least the featured artist in the event of a reprise as his works were “…just too powerful…”  

Among the most exceptional responses to his work came with the People’s Choice award at the 1990 MN State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition (showing the life-size “With Thoughts of Mabel”); the Rochester Mayo response to “A Penny Saved” over the decade it was in The Jim Krom Natural Images Gallery, and the People’s Choice award in the 3-D category  for the relief “Greatest Generation” at the 2015 Grand Rapids, MI ArtPrize event.

As of this writing Fred still spends much of his time in Niflhjem Studio, his backyard workshop/studio first completed in 1986 (and extensively remodeled at the turn of the century).  He yet works primarily in butternut. basswood and black walnut that he has harvested locally. 

Most of the carvers approaching Fred’s caliber first sculpt their complicated pieces in clay prior to engineering reproductions of them in wood. Throughout his career, Fred has remained too obstinate and/or unwise to pursue that course.  

Working with traditional tools (…and many of his own design, plus lots of sharpened dental picks…), Fred remains committed to proceeding from the obvious to the most probable, then spending considerable time adapting to errant commitments.  Contrary to his admonitions to others,  Fred has been increasingly apt to proceed prior to a full analysis.  The process then becomes one of seeing better, engineering and adaptation.

It is within the genre of mezzo-relief carving that self-taught Cogelow has developed his own unique style. (…Admittedly, his in-the-round pieces are likewise seldom mistaken for the works of others..)  His works are known for their storytelling, emotional depth, and subtle sense of humor. Every piece invites viewers to slow down, look closely, and discover new details with each viewing.

Those endeavoring conversation with Fred might think him distracted, and he often is, by unique facial features of someone present, or by some peculiarity in the background that would lend to a fine linear composition.  Digital photography overwhelms him with its potential for recording portrait worthy faces and scenes and elements worthy of serving as backgrounds. His reach exceeds his grasp, with his  catalogue of hundreds of faces worthy of sculpting, complemented by a wood supply which ought last him until the age of 837.

A chronic accumulator, Fred is surrounded by hundreds of edge tools, antiquities that have served or may yet serve as detail models or inspirations.  With three-quarters of a century in the same location, his, mores than most, in a landscape of ghosts, their presence lingering in the mementos of bygone projects and acquaintances.  The memorabilia reflect the continually re-emerging threads woven into the fabric of his life and creations.

No artist achieves success alone. Fred has often expressed deep gratitude for the people who encouraged and supported him throughout his life and career. Among them are his mother, Clara Cogelow; his wife, Doris Binger Cogelow; John and Donna Haines, Bill Bernard, Dr. Dick Hazen, Joe Thompson, Dr. Lyle Munneke, Dr. Pat and Wanda Malone, Noelle Setrum, Shirley Conway, Ed Gallenstein, Chet Salter Jr., Larry Yudis, Hugh Beckham, John F. McMillen, Mike And Else Sevig, Walt Gislason, Leonard Norstedt, Duaine Amundson; and many other family members, friends, collectors, students, and supporters.

Fred remains deeply grateful to those working to establish the Cogelow Art Center. Their vision will preserve not only his life's work but also the tradition of hand woodcarving, inspiring future generations to appreciate the artistry, craftsmanship, and stories that can be told through wood.

The preceding memoir is presented in Fred Cogelow's own words and has been copy edited for grammar, punctuation, and readability while preserving his unique voice and storytelling style.