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This is the ninth in the Meet the Artist series profiles. Pine Hills Retirement Community is hosting the Meet the Artist series on the second Thursday of each month.

HOT SPRINGS – Artist Franz Brown may be better known by some in Fall River County as the jolly fat man himself, Santa Claus. Yet, he has another persona he adopts when the whim strikes - John Porthos Falstaff, a humoristic character of corpulence in several Shakespeare plays.

The dapper Brown, who is not corpulent in real life, enjoys the charm and humor of Falstaff's character.

Brown is a prolific painter. His studio in the former library/church building is lined with paintings, photographs, posters, and the overall accoutrements of an accomplished artist. Brown is famous for his role as Santa Claus, as well as the "self-portraits" he created of himself, attired in full red and white regalia.

"I am my own model," he said with gratification. The Santa paintings, signed by Falstaff, contain a secret, said Brown. "In all of these, there is almost always a hidden meaning," he said.

Brown said he tells a story with each of his paintings, which, to the observer's eye, are filled with depth and characterized by a theme. A current theme he is working on is called a "Walk in the Woods," whereby he portrays on canvas trees of the Black Hills. He anticipates creating a set of twelve paintings with this theme.

"I also do a lot of photography," he said, showing a series he titled, "Pink in Hot Springs."

"I ran around photographing anything pink I could find. The collection is eclectic, where beauty can be found in the profoundly ordinary (an overturned pink table) as well as the extraordinary (masses of pink crabapple blossoms in the spring).

Brown also writes "a little bit," but he prefers to focus on the pictures. "I'm a strong believer in supporting an article with good artwork," he said.

To round out his multitude of talents, Brown makes short documentaries as well. "I do the photography, the videography, and the narrative, and combine it with art and music," he said.

Brown said his presentation at Pine Hills will include the history of his artwork. "I'll be using a lot of photography," he said, "because I started out in photography."

He will talk about the Santa paintings and the Walk in the Woods series, as well as his current project, called the "Yuwipi" project, involving very rare Native American artifacts. Brown's 15 minutes of fame, though, come through his portrayal of the famous fat man.

"It's one of the best things I've ever done," he said, "Because it's about positive giving. I feel like I'm an ambassador."

To see this ambassador of goodwill, visit www.jollyfatman.com or go to Pine Hills Retirement Community in Hot Springs on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m.

For more information, call Pine Hills at 745-5555.