Blog - Chris Freyer Art

Passé Pastel Parcheesi Dungeon (2026)

Updated: August 15, 2026

The idea for this artwork started with the color palette. I don’t think that has ever happened before! I was looking at my color tiles and considering what a more paired down palette would look like of colors that I seem to commonly use in my art. I also considered pairing pastel shades with darker shades to rev up the accentuation (is that a word?). This lead me to the name “Passé Pastel” and the feeling I’ve been having about ageism in the job market. Aligned to my gameboard niche, I eventually got to “Passé Pastel Parcheesi Dungeon” and the idea that sometimes we hide away our brightest gifts. Sometimes we don’t even know they are there. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find them. Sometimes you might even fall further down. It can feel like the deepest of dungeons and an impossible game. Alas, it’s the darkness that leads to the light. And your light leads you through the darkness. It’s cyclical. That’s life.

Here are some special lyrical passages from each song:

I curated a music playlist to go along with the artwork.
It’s centered around the theme of “dark music with light messages”
These are some of my very favorite artists from rock, punk, and metal music. You can find the playlist on Spotify here.

Collective Soul – “Precious Declaration”

Hitched a ride to the peaceful side of town
Then proceeded where thieves were no longer found
Can’t crash now I’ve been waiting for this
Won’t crash now I found some encouragement
Precious declaration reads
Yours is yours and mine you leave alone now
Precious declaration says
I believe all hope is dead no longer

The Cult – “Rise”

You are alive and high in my dreams
You are the stars that mystify me
And you are the wolf that frightens the thief
And you are the voice that they disbelieve
Why you? Whoa!
We are not chained to the wheel
You are the spark that sets us all free
It’s the way that you feel
It’s the truth in your eye
You got the wings upon your back and you can fly
‘Cause you’re up against the world and still you rise

The Hives – “Trapdoor Solution”

Oh, what to do? Oh, what to do?
Say you got problems, I got ’em too
My contribution
Trapdoor solution
I dug a hole, I made a lid
I’m excited like a little kid
It’s like a door, but on my floor
Trapdoor solution

Iron Maiden – “Can I Play With Madness”

Can I play with madness?
Give me the sense to wonder
To wonder if I’m free
Give me a sense of wonder
To know I can be me
Give me the strength to hold my head up
Spit back in their face
Don’t need no key to unlock this door
Gonna break down the walls
Break out of this bad place

Social Distortion – “Gotta Know the Rules”

Spent my whole life looking for something
What it was, I’m not really sure
I looked for happiness but only found sorrow
Then I realized how to unlock that door yea, yea, yea
So you think you’ve got it figured out
It don’t come easy, maybe just for fools
Some say life is a struggle,
It’s a game, just gotta know the rules

Dio – “The Last In Line”

Two eyes from the east
It’s the Angel or the Beast
And the answer lies between the good and bad
We search for the truth
We could die upon the tooth
But the thrill of just the chase is worth the pain
We’ll know for the first time
If we’re evil or divine
We’re the last in line

Rocket From the Crypt – “I’m Not Invisible”

Oh, I wanna go
Yeah, we gotta leave right now
Opportunity knocks so let’s barge on in
Oh, I wanna beat the door down just to look inside
Our vital signs look good but our chances are slim, way grim
So I killed it anyway, I killed it anyway
Stand back, look proud and tall
Be afraid of what you see and not attack
I’m not invisible, I’m not invisible, I’m not invisible

Alice In Chains – “Would?”

Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way, yeah
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home?
Have I gone and left you here alone?
If I would, could you?

Rancid – “Hyena”

Knuckle up, buckle up, the ride’s getting rough
But I will not lose my mind
Permit me to do what I want and I will
‘Cause I’m a nomad to travel
Concrete, glass, stone and gravel
Hyena fighting for the lion’s share
Right, sometimes the lions share ain’t there
Who can I trust in a world of greed
When I’m taught to take and not give?

Turbonegro – “Selfdestructo Bust”

I gotta get away
My time will fade away
I’m gonna spend it in the dust
Yes, it’s true, I got a selfdestructo bust
Yes, it’s true, ain’t gonna ride that yellow bus
Yes, it’s true, I got a selfdestructo bust

The Good The Bad and The Zugly – “One-Dimensional Man”

If you’re a man in one dimension
Big smile, avoid attention
Yeah, you can hide behind your tea
Until you’re one big trigger-happy family
And if you really wanna break free
Don’t fear the negativity
So wipe that smile off your face
Only a rat can win a rat race

Mastodon – “Tread Lightly”

Thru the ages
All the weary and the blind
Facing the unknown
Off the venom
A center our lives
Knowing not your own is unwise
And I will return for more
The light will lead you ashore
Paralyzed by thorn inside
Open your eyes
Take a deep breath and return to life
Wake up and fight
Fight for the love and the burning light

Manowar – “Return of the Warlord”

We are the undefeated
We’re not living in the past
We’re here tonight to kick some goddamn ass
Feel the power of the wheel
Let’s drink to riding steel
Living hard and riding fast
Time to burn
You losers better learn
No-one controls our goddamn lives
We’ll do just what we feel
Riding horses made of steel
We’re here to burn up the night

The Offspring – “Can’t Repeat”

Memories are bittersweet, the good times we can’t repeat
Those days are gone and we can never get them back
Now we must move ahead despite our fear and dread
We’re all just wishing we could stop
But life goes on, come of age
Can’t hold on, turn the page
Time rolls on, wipe your eyes
Yesterday laughs, tomorrow cries
Time tears down what we’ve made
And sets another stage

Metallica – “Escape”

Out for my own, out to be free
One with my mind, they just can’t see
No need to hear things that they say
Life is for my own to live my own way
See them try to bring the hammer down
No damn chains can hold me to the ground
Feed my brain with your so called standards
Who says that I ain’t right
Break away from your common fashion
See through your blurry sight

Blindside – “There Must Be Something in the Water”

I can’t breathe, swallowing water and then
A single breath then under again
Cuts blood razor-rock and silent scream
But nothing is what it seems
I’m not nearly as tired as you think I am
I know you’re pulling me under but I’m back again
Now there’s a storm in my eye
You don’t scare me anymore
Come now, come spirit of thunder, hold me again
Now there’s a storm in my eye
Don’t you dare speak my name
I’m not drowning today

AFI – “Of Greetings and Goodbyes”

Now ending discreetly, just like a hidden sin
As I go under please tuck me in
Make me invisible
This hidden explosion calls for a wandering cast with no direction
Enter all monsters let us twist another fairy tale
Go kill the lights, we’ll glow till morning comes
Then we go under
I’ll say goodnight and bow to everyone
No need to worry it is just another monster
No need to fear here in the secret show
No need to worry I am just another monster
In you, I’ll see me, in the secret show

VV – “Salute the Sanguine”

Death, come blow me a kiss
Through this cathedral of cause
Remind me how to decrypt, decipher
Written in the blood in my heart
Salute the sanguine
Heading to that point, has to feel
Salute the sanguine
Ferociously beautiful, you are
No heart beats in vain
All hearts kneel before your grace

In Flames – “Darker Times”

When light breaks
Another way to matter
All questions somehow answered
When life comes crushing
At the early break of day
We’ve only come so far
Never have to worry for all that we know
Truth be told as we lay down low
Walking the thin line
Let the happiness in for now
It’s fine we’re living the lie

The Halo Effect – “Our Channel to the Darkness”

We take the plunge
We take the leap
Rapt in fascination
They are just words on the page
That opens up our channel to the darkness
We are beholden to the dream
The dream is always never-ending
Toward autonomy
Stand up to introspection’s gaze
Now drawn into our focus
The inescapable reign
Of kings and queens
Inside our mind

Ghost – “De Profundis Borealis”

All the things that never gave you peace
Throwing those but keeping these
All the rights that didn’t undo wrongs
Put it back where it belongs
In a palace built of frozen tears
All life is gone
But between the walls of whispering frost
Secrets live on
Every time you feel the wind blow
And a glow within you dies
When tomorrow comes, you will know
That the morning thaws the ice