Blue Moon Blog

Upon hearing Plymouth’s strong showing this year with Money magazine’s best city rankings, I was reminded of when Plymouth Magazine featured Blue Moon Studios a few years back. During the interview, I was called on to describe just what we loved so much about our chosen city. Read below the article in its entirety by Dan Emerson, with accompanying photos by Wayne Martin.

The so-called “American Dream” represents many things to many people. For Paul and Mary Fricke, the dream was finding a place where they could raise a family and make a living doing what they love — drawing and painting. With an art studio in the Plymouth home, the Frickes seem to have achieved their shared objective, and also handled the work-family balancing act that challenges most modern families.

A freelance illustrator and cartoonist, Paul and his wife, Mary — a painter of portraits and landscapes — are Chicago-area natives who moved to Plymouth in 1993.

Growing up there, Paul developed an interest in the fantasy world of comic books and harbored  the desire to create his own superheroes-on-paper. In 1986, the then 20-something Paul, and a friend, created a new comic series called “Trollords.” which he describes as a “fantasy-slapstick-comedy-adventure about love, life and death.”

Paul and his partner went on to produce about thirty issues of the comic, which were distributed by the same wholesalers and distributors who serve “the major comic publishers and fans all over the world.” At its peak, the self-published monthly book was selling 40,00-45,000 copies per issue. Several more years followed working for several major comic book publishers, including the industry leader, DC Comics. In the early ’90s, ready for new ventures, Paul went to work as a freelance illustrator

Around the same time, the high cost of living in Chicago led the Frickes to seek another place they could fulfill their shared vision. Minnesota, where they had made several trips to visit friends, provided the solution. Being self-employed, “we could have lived anywhere, but the (housing) prices and quality of life in Minnesota seemed to afford us that chance,” Paul explains. “Here, we have been able to put together all the things we talked about on our honeymoon. Since we moved up here, it’s not only met our expectations but exceeded them.”

When the couple planned their art studio, they considered whether to move to a larger home elsewhere, add on to the existing home or build a new one. “The longer we thought about it the more we realized we just wanted to stay here in Plymouth,” he says.

The Frickes founded Blue Moon Studios in 1996, shortly after the first daughter, Laura, was born under a blue moon — a second full moon in the same month. The lower level of their four-year-old, custom-built home is dedicated to the studio, where Fricke and his wife each have their own work spaces.

“It’s important for us to be home with our kids, even though things may get chaotic at times, ” Paul notes. Both daughters, 8-year old Laura and Emily, 5, are alos artistically inclined. “I don’t know if it’s a matter of exposure or a double dose of genetics, or both. Whether they’ll want to go into it for a living is up to them, ” he says. At times, all four family members may be working on their own drawing or painting projects.

Since opening his studio, Paul has developed a client list that includes ad agencies and some of the Twin Cities best-known corporations, including Best Buy, BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota, General Mills and Target. One of his 2004 projects was illustrating a Food Safety Kit for the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control.

When he needs a break from the drawing board, Fricke also has another creative outlet to provide respite from his illustration work — music. He’s been playing piano since he was nine and writing songs since 17. “If I get stuck at the drawing board, it’s a great break to sit down at the piano and pound away,” he says.

Coming from one of the world’s largest metro-plexes, the Frickes appreciate the blend of city and small-town living Plymouth affords. “We’re tucked into a quiet area, but we’re still only 20 minutes from downtown Minneapolis, so it’s easy to take advantage of what the city has to offer. Plymouth is a really well-planned, well-designed community. Everything is very accessible, it’s easy to get around, and the schools are great. It just feels good here,” Paul says.