Although born in Cheltenham, Fred grew up in Lancashire and the West Midlands, left schoolearly and travelled the country with a sleeping bag, working at various manual jobs as he went. Determined to paint, he eventually attended Art School in Bournville, Birmingham and then Central School of Art in London. He was awarded a Hill bursary to Mantova and Venice before graduating in 1969. After college, he continued to paint, as an abstract artist, while working series of manual and teaching jobs, then taught at Art Schools in Hereford, Bournville and Aston University.

In 1979 he worked briefly at BBC Pebble Mill and went on to pursue a freelance career nationally and internationally as a pastiche, matte and scenic artist working in television, commercials and feature films. Fred is now based in the South West. Most recent film projects include large sets of watercolours for 'Ladies in Lavender' and a huge collection of over one hundred backings of townscapes, landscapes and skies for Aardman's 'Wallace and Gromit, the curse of the Wererabbit'.

Despite busy schedules in his commercial work, he has always continued to paint and exhibit in one and two man shows across the West Country and in Upper Street Gallery, London. He also showed at Bradford print Biennale, in the singer Friedlander Sunday Times Watercolour competition, RWEA, RBSA and Ikon. More recently exhibiting in the Sadler Fallery, Wells and the Artgarden in Bristol. Step towards these paintings and explore the abstract qualities of mark making and Fred's fascination with the brushwork. Step back and the illustrative quality of the marks takes hold. Fred has always loved to travel, from his first days of hitching to Paris (nowadays things are slightly more comfortable). He is intrigued by the way people inject personality and energy into their environment. Villages, towns and cities and the landscapes they are set in, always reflect the natural ups and downs, aspirations and practical needs of the people who live there. Ancient buildings decay, grandeur fades and new buildings shoot up amongst them. Fred has tried to capture this, encouraging the viewer to explore and participate in the spirit of the artwork.