Fredrick was born in the town of Basse (formerly East Germany) as his parents fled Pomerania at the close of World War II. When he was eight, his family fled again, to West Germany, where he completed his schooling and entered vocational graphics school.
This was a natural extension of an early interest in drawing and painting; in 1964 he emerged with a Journeyman Diploma in lithography. Until immigrating to Canada in 1978, he worked at offset printer and graphic houses across Germany.
After one year in Winnipeg, Fredrick and his family moved to Whitehorse. In doing so, he was finally living near the wilderness he appreciated so much and which provides an abundance of motives and themes for his watercolour painting.
Apart from incidental courses taken in his lithographic training, Fredrick is largely self-taught. His technical skills are evident in clear, effective composition and sensitive, gentle colour. His paintings carry a sense of quiet satisfaction as he strives to depict the beauty and tranquility of the northern country, some of it still unspoiled and hardly touched by man.