MILWAUKEE — The Bronze Fonz is an iconic landmark, regarded by some as the eighth wonder of the world... Well, maybe you only think that if you’re from Milwaukee or you’re Henry Winkler.
Nevertheless, people love to take photos with it, and some even paint it. But you’ve probably never seen a painting of it the way Nate Rose does.
It’s a teeny-tiny Bronze Fonz, painted by Nate Rose, a Wisconsin artist who has recently gained popularity for his ultra-small paintings created inside Altoids containers.
“People really like just the whole package because it’s got the palette in the tin. They can kind of see how it’s made. Usually, if you buy a big painting, you’re not going to get the palette of dried paint with it. So I think that just seeing the process, people respond well to that,” he added.
Rose paints big landmarks on tiny canvases and travels across Wisconsin, visiting places like Lambeau Field and the Milwaukee Art Museum in search of inspiration.
“I feel like nostalgia and a sense of place have a really big impact on my art,” Rose said.
Tiny Paintings and Big Landmarks: The Wisconsin artist painting on tiny canvases inside Altoids tins
He has been creating these tiny paintings for about a year and a half but has always been a fan of Altoids. He said his parents use to stockpile the tins.
Rose needs empty Altoids containers to paint in. So how many Altoids has he consumed? Rose has done about 20 tiny paintings. In eac tin there are about 75 Altoids. Do a little quick math - 20 tins x 75 Altoids = 1,500 Altoids. You might think this guy has the freshest breath in all of Wisconsin. While he does brush his teeth, he does not eat every single Altoid.
Part of his tiny painting series includes depictions of old buildings and businesses that no longer exist, like County Stadium, Atomic Records, and Klinger's East.
Rose also creates regular-sized paintings like the water tower in Eagle, the North Point Water Tower, and more of Lambeau Field. He has been a painter for most of his life. You can find his work on his website, Etsy, and Instagram.
“This is a very Wisconsin answer, a very Milwaukee answer. Around 2004, I had a night shift job, and in the early morning hours one day, I just had some paint laying around. I put on a Violent Femmes record that I have on vinyl—the original one, the first one—and just started making these weird abstract paintings. I don’t know, that’s kind of how it all started, and 20 years later, here I am painting the Fonz,” Rose said.
If you go to the Bronze Fonz, you'll see that he was so happy with how the tiny painting came out that he is giving two big thumbs up for Nate Rose.
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