From Field to Finish

There is a lot of talk about plein aire painting, but what exactly does it mean? Borrowed from the French, to paint ‘en plein aire’ literally translates to ‘open air,’ it refers to painting outside, on location, in all kinds of weather.

And into the fray we go….

2016’s got me like….
Things here at West Fraser Studio are busy. Busy with new commissions, busy with a new intern, busy with building a bigger, better website, and busy with planning a book tour.

#motivationmonday

Monday, for most people, is the first day of the week. It’s the wake-up call after the weekend. The end of doing your own thing and the beginning of doing someone elses thing. For the self-employed, monday is just like any other day of the week.

What Is A Chicken Bog Anyways?

We all know that rice was grown in the lowcountry during the colonial era. There are reminders everywhere of our by-gone rice culture. But have you ever thought about what happened to these fields after they stopped growing rice? Many of them were sold to wealthy northerners for hunting plantations. Evidently the rice fields became a wonderful home for ducks.

History and Art

As a student of Art History I find that I often look at what was going on culturally and historically during the time a particular piece of art was created. For instance Picasso’s ‘Guernica,’ it would be hard not to think about the events it represents. Often artists are commissioned to create an allegorical piece that represents a certain event, think John Trumbull’s ‘Declaration of Independence.’

I have completed my new book!

Helena and I enjoyed a memorable holiday in the tropics for Christmas and New Years, and upon my return my first priority was to complete the paintings and submit all of the material to my publisher. The book, which I have tentatively titled, Painting the Southern Coast; The Art of West Fraser, will be released in June of 2016, by The University of South Carolina Press.

A New Website and a trip to Italy

I now have a beautiful new website thanks to the talent and diligent work of Kate Sondag. Thank you very much!

This past May, Helena and I completed an epic trip to Italy. Most of our time was spent in the Sienna region of Tuscany. We stayed with some friends at an estate la Foce that was made famous by the writings of owner Iris Origo.

Fishing the Limay River

I have just completed two new sporting paintings of my fishing expeditions, one from the Limay River in Argentina and another off the coast of Costa Rica. These works titled, Fishing the Limay and Pacific Sport, represent a new series of sporting and travel paintings that I plan to expand upon.