Bill Fritz is a Midwest advertising executive and photographer turned Colorado oil painter. Fritz, whose heart and home had always been in the Midwest and who believed photography was to be his only lifelong hobby, has made a major turnaround by becoming a westerner and an oil painter.

A native of Mitchell, South Dakota, he and his wife, Dana, moved to Estes Park ten years ago when he retired from a career as Executive Art Director and Creative Director for a large advertising firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He began his career as a business administration major at the University of Nebraska, but after a stint in the Air Force graduated from the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design with a major in Advertising Design.

Moving back to the Midwest he worked for two Minneapolis advertising agencies before moving to Cedar Rapids. His accounts included Pillsbury, General Mills, Better Homes and Gardens, Elanco Produce (Eli Lilly). Pioneer Seed and John Deere, winning creative awards for him in both print and television advertising.

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In 1991 he enlarged his interest in photography as a "visual art" finding the oil painting he had tried was not as relaxing. Photography also tied in well with his other hobbies of bicycling and backpacking.

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But after moving to the Rocky Mountains and taking many lessons in oil painting he has discovered a passion for that medium. His subjects range from landscapes to character studies.