Glasgow-born Colin Fraser is well-known for his still life and landscape paintings in both Europe and North America.
After studying Fine Art at Brighton Polytechnic in the late ‘70s, Colin worked mostly in oil and watercolour, but found that those mediums couldn’t give him the colour freshness and intensity he wanted so he started to experiment with egg tempera.
This medium, known to have been used since the time of the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, presents considerable challenges to artists as the egg yolk, which is used as a binder for the colour pigments, dries very rapidly. As there was little contemporary literature available on the subject, Colin had to teach himself how to use the medium and it took him 10 years to perfect his technique.
The results, however, have been well worth it as Colin’s paintings are superb examples of their genres, with a luminosity and freshness that exceeds what can be achieved using conventional oils.
When creating a still life Colin believes that the process of meticulously arranging objects is an essential part of his inspiration and allows him to create feeling and mood in his work. The importance of an emotional (and often historical) connection is very important to him and as a result his still life paintings in particular have titles which reflect the memories evoked in him while creating the composition he is preparing to paint.
Colin has exhibited in galleries in London, Amsterdam, New York, Toronto and Washington.
He lives with his family in Sweden.