Colin Fraser

Colin Fraser is a contemporary Scottish painter, who is recognized for his intricate still lifes, interiors, and landscapes. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1956 and received training to become a teacher at Brighton Polytechnic in England. Fraser taught courses in art for several years in the seaside town of Worthing, England. He moved to Sweden in 1981 to fulfill a teaching position, but left this role in 1983 to pursue painting and to exhibit his work full time. As an artist he has mastered watercolors, oils, and acrylics. However, he preferred a medium that was more convenient for traveling than oil and more durable than watercolor. Thus, he began reading books about the egg tempera painting technique and taught himself. This painting technique was the primary technique used during the Byzantine Period and the Italian Renaissance. The whites of egg yolks are mixed with pigment, it’s a permanent, quick drying mixture, and creates stunning effects within works of art. Egg-tempera technique gives Fraser’s work a translucent, bright quality, which makes his compositions feel extremely open and freeing. The artist says; “It’s a medium fraught with technical difficulties, but therein lies its charm. Brushstrokes dry instantly and are never fully opaque, so just about every mark the painter makes shows.” Colin Fraser and his wife currently live in Sweden with their two children.

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