Nicole Fraser

Statement

 

I would say that light, colour, composition, and movement, together, with an underlying poetry, are the essence of my paintings. In a few words, that best describe my thought processes:

 

I see     I love    I paint    the words come later    I love    I see  

 

 

 

Inspiration

 

At times, one finds inspiration in the smallest and sometimes most ephemeral of things: a feather, a stone, a shadow, a reflection, a phrase, a tree bud, a memory or an image in a book....

 

One of my earliest formative memories was of a library book that my father had brought home to me one winter afternoon. Not yet able to read, I opened it and pored over an illustration, or perhaps a better word would be an illumination. Spellbound, it's beauty jumped out at me, enveloping me with wonder.

 

And Wonder, I think, for me, is always at the core of art, along with passion.

 

 

 

Influences and Education:

 

During my early childhood and throughout my teens, I was immersed in the Fine Arts. This included ballet, international folk dance, voice and classical music. I also grew up with an appreciation of books and reading. My love of gardening and trees was passed down to me by my maternal grandmother Liz (Lemay) Gadbois.

 

I have had no formal training in art. As a child, I loved to draw and colour. In my mid-twenties, I attended workshops at Peter Aspell Studios in Vancouver in the mid 1970's. Here was the nest where I learned about colour and composition.

 

Later, in the early 1980's, as a young mother, I took evening classes, under the direction of Trevor Hodgson at the Dundas Valley School of Art, Ontario, while my husband attended McMaster University. The focus at D.V.S.A. was technique, developing speed in Life-drawing classes, and interpreting scenes in nature, using abstract form.

 

Some of my favourite artists are Emily Carr, Monet, Marc Chagall, Braque and my mentor, Peter Aspell.

 

A more recent appreciation that I have acquired on a trip to Provence is artist Jean Arène and his inspiring words:

 

" Enfin, poser la couleur. C'est une joie, on oublie la peur, ou oublie tout, on participe, on vibre, on ne se pause plus de questions, on se laisse aller, on devient couleur. La réflexion est toute automatique semblable au processus de conduite d'un véhicule. Conduire c'est vivre sa machine, peindre, c'est vivre la couleure."

 

He says " Finally, apply the color. It is a joy, one forgets fear or forgets everything, one participates, vibrates, one does not question oneself anymore, one lets go, one becomes color. Thinking becomes totally automatic similar to the process of driving a car. To drive is to become an extension of the vehicle, to paint is to become an extension of the color or to "live the color". "

 

If I may add something Jean, I feel that there is something that takes over at some point in the process of painting as if I am the one who is being driven!

 

 

 

Currently 

 

I am inspired by the beckoning of my blank canvasses. They remind me of the stillness and purity of winter and the hope of spring. And I, on the cusp of my winter years, look forward to a voyage with my winter canvasses to discover and share renewed hope, wonder and joy.