M.
Abbey Fraser –Still Going Strong
M. Abbey Fraser at her studio 19 May
2006
Marjorie
Abbey Fraser has been painting for over thirty years. She is now
over 80 years old, yet still going strong with enthusiasm and an
inimitable gusto. She draws every day and likes to try new
techniques. In the past few years, she has been working on a series
of paintings depicting people of Baffin Island. Abbey’s pallet is
rich with contrasting, bold colours. She paints portraits,
still-lives, cheerful, larger-than-life flowers,
children
with their mothers or grandparents, groups of people dancing or
otherwise engaged, and children wearing Red River Coats, which were
worn by children across Canada in the 1930s. In fact, these have
been her trademark for many years.
Abbey
has taken numerous painting workshops. One of the workshops that
had a particular influence on her painting was given by the American
painter Charles Movalli. Abbey exhibited her work in many shows in
Montreal and the Laurentians. Her paintings are widely sold across
Canada. Her chosen medium is acrylic and she “prefers to work
unfettered by urban concerns,” where she lives in Saint Sauveur.
Her
connection with St. Sauveur already started in her youth, when with
a group of friends called the “Ten Spots” she spent her weekends in
rented houses, skiing, racing downhill and slalom. They came every
week by train to ski and have a good time singing and dancing in the
Pub. She has always liked sports, dancing and singing. She even
recalls coming up for the weekend and having a great time, instead
of preparing for the McGill University entry exams but somehow she
pulled it through.
Abbey Fraser has been a member of ARTS Morin Heights for 23 years.
She will show her paintings at the
ARTS
Morin Heights annual exhibition, 22nd– 30th
July, 2006.
