Biography

painting the momentwhile it's still happening

Randy Leo Frechette Jr., known everywhere as Frenchy, is a New Orleans live painter. He sets up his easel where the music, the crowd, and the game are happening and paints them in real time.

Portrait of Frenchy in his black hat and glasses, brush in hand

Frenchy's paintings are visual records of experiences as they unfold: a set at Tipitina's, a Jazz Fest afternoon, a Super Bowl pregame. Art, music, performance, New Orleans, culture, and memory, all on one canvas.

The live painter

Most artists paint from memory or a photograph. Frenchy paints the moment itself. On stage, in the crowd, or on the sideline, he builds each canvas alongside the performance, so the finished piece carries the energy of the night it was made.

Painting live, after dark.

That approach has put him beside some of the biggest names in music, including Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Trombone Shorty, Widespread Panic, Goose, Dweezil Zappa, The Radiators, and Dumpstaphunk.

Frenchy laughing as he blocks in a band in black paint on a fresh canvas
Frenchy, palette in hand, adding color to the first figures of a new live painting

Game day and national stages

Frenchy was the official New Orleans Saints artist from 2001 to 2007. He was featured in CBS's Super Bowl XLVII pregame commercial, painted FOX Sports' Super Bowl LIX pregame, and has painted the Indianapolis 500 and the Talladega 500 for FOX Sports. In 2026 he was back on the Saints sideline for Monday Night Football and for Drew Brees's Ring of Honor night. His work is also associated with Caesars and Harrah's.

Official festival artist

  • New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2015 official poster)
  • French Quarter Festival
  • Telluride Jazz Festival
  • Crescent City Classic (official poster artist)
  • New Orleans Greek Festival (three times)
  • Jeff Fest 1997
Frenchy on a Jazz Fest stage beside his easel, the band in black and white on the canvas, as a saxophonist plays
On stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Recent work

  • 13 pieces painted live on the Big Easy Cruise
  • Dweezil Zappa and The Radiators at Tipitina's
  • Super Bowl LIX events, including FOX Sports, the Saints' "Maison Des Saints," Ditka & Jaws, On Location, and IJM
  • The label art for Urban South and Dumpstaphunk's "I Wish Yuze Would" beer
  • T-shirt creative direction for Manheim Auto / NADA
  • Live painting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

See the work

Browse his original paintings in the Archive, take one home from the Shop, or book Frenchy to paint your next event. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook.