Fred remembered in art

The memory of Wolverhampton's legendary ring road tramp is living on, thanks to the creative skills of one Black Country man who has immortalised him with art.

Father-of-two Brian Dakin, from Tividale, created a pencil sketch and watercolour painting of Fred back in 1995 while studying fine art at Wolverhampton University.

Brian, now 55, was set the task of creating masterpieces based on the theme of identity and freedom, and thought that Fred, real name Josef Stawinoga, would be an ideal subject.

After research into Fred's past, Brian discovered archived photographs of the tramp outside his canvas home on the city's ring road which appeared in the Express & Star and set about replicating them with two sketches.

They are still hanging proudly in the home he shares with wife Sue.

"I was doing a BA in fine art and drove past Fred on my way to university," said Brian.

"When we started a module on identity and freedom he seemed like the perfect character to base the work upon.

"I created a pencil drawing and a bleached watercolour based on one of the photographs and they are still hanging on the wall at home.

"A lot of people comment on them because Fred was such a well-known figure in Wolverhampton, he was even considered a sort of holy man to some people in the community."

Flooring consultant Brian, who is father to 31-year-old twins Ruth and Gemma, has also created poetry based on Fred's life which he performs in traditional Black Country dialect as a member of RoosterSpake performance group.

"I know a bit about him and have used stories based on him and his life during shows," he said.

"Since I did the bits of research for the artwork I have kept an interest in him.

"The pictures are even more valuable to me now. I would be happy to do prints of them for anybody who would like a keepsake of Fred but I would never let the originals go."

Fred, aged 86, lived on the ring road for more than 30 years. His body was found close to his tent last Sunday. He died from bronchial pneumonia.

The tramp became internationally-renowned just weeks before his death because of social networking site Facebook.

Hundreds of people across the world have sent messages of sympathy to the www.expressandstar.com website.

People are now campaigning for a sculpture to be installed on the ring road as a lasting tribute to him. Suggestions include a statue of him or a sculpture of Fred's trademark broom.