Fraser Brinsmead

Fraser Brinsmead was born in the small community of Lac la Biche to a physician father and a musically gifted mother. He moved to Edmonton along with his parents and siblings in 1956, and it was around this year that his love for music and art began to emerge. Fraser's fist glimpse of "the big city" affected him quite deeply, and by retaining these feelings of awe, he has parleyed his passion for art and music into an architectural career that has now spanned over three decades. Architecture has been described as "frozen music" and as "bringing form into the light". These are the themes that inspire Fraser's paintings, and he is dedicated to the notion that light, form, and harmony form the basis of all his works. As an architect he has always been keenly aware of the incredible richness and vitality of city life. His paintings are charged with people oblivious to being watched, people who play, work, and live in an urban context. They are familiar scenes into which the viewer might feel compelled to join in, hear the sounds, feel the crowd, breathe the smells and experience the light. Many works hint at a deeper story that will entice the viewer to elaborate, while others have layered themes that reflect the complexity of modern living.