Santa Clarita resident Frank Rock has been interpreting the world around him with pen, pencil and paintbrush for more than 60 years, when he started doodling faces, landscapes and characters in the margins of his schoolbooks and any available blank space. He started working on canvas after college, but his art career didn’t really take off until his three children were in high school and he began doing murals for friends and local businesses and started collecting followers. He was commissioned by the City of Santa Clarita to create a backdrop for its first public access TV show, a trash can for the Aquatic Center, one of the first in the California Bear Project (history bear, currently awaiting installation at the Old Town Newhall Library) and the Amgen bear that comes out for the annual cycling competition and has been presented in maquette to Stage Winners.
His mural of the historic Southern Hotel at the corner of Market and Main Streest in downtown Newhall provided the backdrop of the Walk of Western Stars dedication one year, and he has two projects in the Old Town Newhall Library – the restoration of the stagecoach mural in the Community Room and the original Howdy mural that greets visitors to the Children’s Section. His original designs depicting our nation’s military conflicts are etched in bronze story stations surrounding the lawn at the Veterans Historical Plaza. He also created the mural in the Administration offices of Valencia High School and adds distinguished sports alumni to the school’s wall of champions every year.
His mural “Angels” graces a wall on the first floor of Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, and he created the murals at Strathern Historic Park in Simi Valley that depict the apricot industry and its influence on the area. He continues to work on private commissions and has expanded his repertoire to canvas, theatrical set design and chalk. He’s painted walls, floors and ceilings and sculpted surfaces. By now, this Renaissance man spends every day working on his art in one form or another in his home studio.
His murals, each a unique interpretation, grace dining room walls and palatial entryways, creating spots of inspiration and solace. He was recently awarded Best of Theme at the City of Carlsbad’s ArtSplash for his chalk homage to photographer Ansel Adams. His interpretations of forest, beach or urban landscapes on canvas have been featured at art shows and hang in private galleries.
