Medway/Millis March 2016

Page 8 Local Town Pages www.millismedwaynews.com March 2016
Trying Something New
Spurred Growth as an Artist
Artist Spotlight: Paula Fraser
By J.D. O’Gara
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She always knew she was creative.
When Paula Fraser retired
from teaching preschoolers about
seven years ago, she had dabbled
a variety of arts and crafts, including
spinning and rug braiding,
not to mention promoting
art through her work with children
in Millis and Sharon, but
when she finally had the time,
the nearly 40-year Millis discovered
her hidden talent – as a pastel
artist. In fact, just last month,
over 30 of her paintings were
featured in a show in the Roche
Bros. Room of the Millis Public
Library.
“You’re never too old to try
something new,” says Fraser,
who says a friend introduced
her to an instructor in the medium.
“I never thought I had
talent.” Fraser later continued
her pastel work through a new
teacher, Jeannie Rosier Smith,
of Sudbury. “I’ve
been taking lessons
from her for
almost five years,”
says Fraser, who
even traveled to
Provence, France,
with this instructor.
“She’s the
one that taught
me, gave me encouragement,
suggestions. She’s
fantastic.”
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Fraser says she enjoys the medium
because “it’s messy. I really
like the fact that it’s dry, so I don’t
have to wait for it to dry, and you
can do a lot of layers and have
a lot of really bright colors. It’s
very forgiving, but it really is an
art,” says Fraser, who adds that
some artists don’t value the medium
as much as, say, oil painting.
“You do have to cover it with
glass,” she says, adding that some
people spray their work to set it
before framing. “I do my own
framing,” says Fraser, “and I
don’t spray my art. I think it dulls
the color, somewhat.”
Fraser, who has also taken art
classes as a member of the Concord
Art Museum, has had some
success in a number of art shows,
to date.
“I was in an art show at the
Mill Gallery in New Hampshire
and the Warner Fall Foliage Festival,
also in Kennebunkport at
the Port Gallery, she says, noting
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that she’s done several shows in
New Hampshire. Some of her
pieces that she’s painted from
her lake home in Bradford, NH
were shown at a show held by
that town’s Historical Society, at
which she even sold a few paintings.
“I never realized you can really
lose yourself in something,”
says Fraser, who says she is drawn
to painting water, attracted to
capturing and portraying light.
Time just goes by.”
The artist begins her work
in charcoal, with a thumbnail
sketch to capture the “darks and
lights.” Later, she adds to it to
make it more three-dimensional.
“I step back and say, ‘Oh, my
god, I did that!’” she says. “I surprise
myself at how it comes out,
although sometimes…it doesn’t,”
she laughs.
Fraser’s only regret, she says,
is not having begun her artwork
at a younger age, but, she says,
“Time didn’t work out. I was
working two jobs and raising a
family. I didn’t know I had this
in me. I knew I was creative, but
I didn’t know I could draw and
paint like I do. says the mother
two and grandmother of five.
Fraser says she’s still growing
and experimenting with different
avenues of art, such as landscapes,
portraits and still life. She
enjoys painting from her travels
with her husband and with
friends, which have taken her to
every continent excluding Antarctica.
“I try to paint from the different
areas,” she says, “It reminds
me of the times we’ve had, the
experiences we’ve had.”
You can take a look at Paula’s
work at her website
www.paulafraserpastels.com.