Rising Stars: Meet Thomas Freese

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Freese.

Thomas, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a professional storyteller, author, and artist and I started my creative journey as a visual artist. I have other artists and musicians in my family and I got a lot of inspiration from the religious brothers at my high school. It was the 1970s and the brothers had art studios and were doing fantastic creative work crafting repurposed metal work into sacred art for chapels. In college, I started taking art classes in San Antonio Texas at the Southwest Craft Center.

It was very hands-on–calligraphy, pottery, stained glass, and more. When I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico I started working with Native American designs and contemporary art including UFOs and folk art in wood. I was inspired too by the Hispanic “retablos” which are holy people depicted on flat wood panels.

At the same time, I read a lot of metaphysical literature and was fascinated by people’s contact with ghosts, spirits, and angels. When I moved to Kentucky, I started collecting true stories of encounters with ghosts and spirits and eventually joined the Shaker singers. The Shakers were very spiritual folk and they lived on the land and their handiwork was practical yet also so gracious and harmonious. The Shakers wrote over 30,000 songs and had 19 communities throughout the eastern U.S. We dressed in reproduction Shaker-style clothing and we performed in the

1820 Meeting House near Harrodsburg, Kentucky. It’s called Shakertown at Pleasant Hill. So my first of 11 published books is a collection of encounters with Shaker ghosts. I interviewed employees and visitors to Pleasant Hill.

Shakertown is over 3,000 acres of original Shaker land and over 30 restored buildings. We have plenty of tales to tell as we had Shaker spirits join us as we sang their songs and walked the village property. I also started work in the 1990s as a teaching artist (artist in residence work) across Kentucky and in other states. I taught folk art, Origami, wood crafts, tessellations, and much more. When working with children I also realized I wanted to develop my storytelling talents so I created stories and songs to entertain and teach.

So here I am, traveling to Tennessee, Ohio, around Kentucky, and as far as Alaska and Argentina as a teaching artist, visual artist, musician, storyteller, and author. I participate each May in Nashville’s Galactic Expo at the Fairgrounds. I am available to perform story programs in Nashville’s schools and libraries and at private or corporate parties. My website is www.ThomasLFreese.com.

Some of my books include Haunted Battlefields of the South, Ghosts Spirits and Angels, Shaker Spirits Shaker Ghosts, Eerie Encounters in Everyday Life, and Halloween Sleepwalker. My wood crafts include jewelry, boxes, spoons, wands, comfort birds, and holding hearts. I travel the region at crafts shows, and holistic events, and perform over a dozen story programs.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The artist’s way has so many challenges. Artists score very high in creativity, but it can take many years to find one’s niche and to build confidence and a practical interface with the business realm. At first, I only worked with recycled wood, materials I could find for free. Over time, I purchased woodworking tools and sought knowledge and networking to better refine my art and connect with patrons.

I also found another expression of my art and supplemented my income by joining the artist in residence and other funded teaching artist programs. My storytelling work was very much a method of combining planning, creative song crafting, and learning by doing–diving in, to learn from my audience! I love storytelling for all ages and particularly children. Kids love hearing music, instruments, and the zany voices of animal and human characters. I get so much energy from my animated story sessions! And since I’ve written 9 books of ghost stories…well who doesn’t love a good “jump” tale! Children are so curious, asking, “Mr. Freese is that a real ghost story?!”

My obstacles to becoming an author go back to high school. I was unjustly accused of plagiarism when a writing teacher didn’t believe I wrote a story. And that teacher, a priest, challenged me to write on demand for my final exam (something none of the other students was asked to do). I did receive an “A” for that class… but the pushback continued over the years… there were plenty of rejection letters trying to get my books published. But I persisted and now I sell many books directly to folks at events. They love reading my books so I guess it was all worth it. And, I promote THEIR stories as many of my books include true tales from folks I meet.

My most recent book took over 5 years to put together. It’s called Tree Spirits and Wood Wisdom and provides spiritual meanings for over 125 trees. It includes my friend’s story who’s daddy dowsed for where the farmers dug their water wells. I’m grateful now for surmounting the harder times so now I can inspire and help others!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
One of my specialties as a visual artist is handcrafting wood-burned artwork. I started wood burning in the 1980s and I still work with a $15 wood burning tool and a lot of patience. By contrast, the market has computer-executed laser-burned art… but mine is all done by hand. I would burn earrings, beads, pins, pendants, boxes, spoons, wands, comfort birds, holding hearts, small panels, and more. I think the slowing down to craft, not only preparing the wood piece which can take many hours prior to sketching and wood burning–(obtaining wood, re-sawing larger pieces into smaller, rough sanding and finish sanding)… and then there is the very focused and patient and slow hand wood burning. When I craft wood pieces, it becomes my therapy. And my art patrons recognize the handiwork not only for creativity, and skill but also for the feeling of a smoothly sanded piece with love and care translated into complex Celtic interlaces, folksy scenes, or mysterious UFOs hovering over a southwest landscape.

About a year ago a customer, who had met me at the Farmer’s Market, sent me an email and asked me if I made comfort birds. Comfort birds are three-dimensional wood birds that you can hold in your hand and feel better. They are made and sold or given to those who have experienced loss, PTSD, and anxiety. So I responded to the lady that I had heard of comfort birds but never made one. She told me then, “If you make them I’ll take four. Our father is in hospice and we expect him to pass away soon.”

So I did research, created some tracing forms, hunted in my wood shed for thicker wood to make the birds from and I gave it a try. When I finished I asked her if instead of wood burning my signature on the underside of the birds, would she like me to wood burn her dad’s name. She said, “Yes but since we lost our mother the year before I want you to wood burn her name as well.” I posted about this new adventure on my Facebook page and now 11 months later I’ve made over 170 comfort birds. I’ve branched out into making exotic wood comfort birds and also ones wood burned with intricate Celtic interlaces.

And more importantly, I get heartwarming testimonials all the time from so many who, either they or their loved one who received the comfort bird found solace in holding their birds so very often. Creativity, merged with diligent work and being appreciated for one’s careful and prayerful art offerings, can blossom into a bucketful of blessings to the artist and patron as well.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The pandemic shutdown caused the immediate loss of 90 percent of my scheduled work and income for 2020. I work an average of 50 events each year with loads of face-to-face public interaction. I do school residencies, I visit assisted living, psychiatric facilities, veterans, festivals, and so much more. The Covid-19 crisis forced me to stay home, develop new ways of connecting for storytelling like video performances, and diverted me to some direct-to-customer modes like the farmer’s market.

It was difficult, lonely, and scary and tested my faith and patience. But now so much has come back, and I’m doubly grateful. I can go into schools and libraries and play my guitar, sing and give hugs. I can work at large public festivals.

I’ll never forget the shutdown and how it affected us all. Gratitude is jet fuel for finding a way around big problems, as water flows around boulders.

Pricing:

• My books are priced from $16 to $40
• My wood comfort birds are $39 to $199
• My wood spoons cost $35 to $300
• My story programs run $300-$1,200
• My jewelry is priced from $29 to $199

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ThomasLFreese.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thomas.freese.5

Image Credits
Thomas Freese with Halloween Sleepwalker book permission Davies Co. Library Photo 2 Thomas Freese with Tree Spirits and Wood Wisdom book permission Victory of Light