Russell Frantom (born October 18, 1991) is an American visual artist based in

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and Chicago, Illinois. Frantom first gained notoriety and national attention when in 2008, he was arrested and charged with conspiring to form an attack on his then high school

Penn High School Penn High School is a Public education, public high school located just outside Mishawaka, Indiana, United States, near South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. It is the only high school in the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, Penn-Harris-Madis ...

involving an accomplice located in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Frantom was only sixteen at the time. Frantom has gained success regionally as an artist, and has been responsible for creating large art events in his hometown of

. Frantom describes himself as an

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and completes all of his

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

within hours.

Conspiracy and arrest

On April 22, 2008, Frantom was arrested after a school resource officer at

became aware of strange social media posts. The investigation uncovered threatening conversations between Frantom and an

man by the name of Lee Billi. Frantom was charged with

conspiracy to commit murder Conspiracy to murder is a statutory offence defined by the intent to commit murder. England and Wales The offence of conspiracy to murder was created in statutory law by section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and retained as ...

and several illegal and

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

rattlesnakes were removed from his home, along with hundreds of swords and knives.

Art and life

Frantom's art pieces are often very colorful, raw, and sometimes minimal. His most often used medium is

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. He frequently paints self-portraits and animals.

References

External links

Raw ArtArt ListingArt EventMahalo ArticleGoodwill PaintingThe Smoking Gun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frantom, Russell 1991 births Living people Painters from Indiana American Expressionist painters People from South Bend, Indiana

Conspiracy and arrest

Art and life

See also

References

External links