Born and raised on Cape Breton Island, Doug Fraser was surrounded by the arts in the form of Celtic folklore, Gaelic song and traditional Cape Breton Step Dancing but it was sketching where his artistic talent was first discovered.  He is the seventh son of a nine boy, three-girl family and although money was not abundant, family, laughter and the love for the arts was front in center.   It was an older sibling that gave him a paint set and although the paint set did not include a paintbrush it did not seem to matter.  Doug Fraser found his passion.  To this day some 35+ years later some of Doug’s earlier painting can still be found on the walls of his childhood homestead.  You see there was not money in those days with such large families for canvas so he often painted right on the walls.  His mother always lovingly, proudly and carefully painted around his art when the room needed painting a testimony to his parents, who placed great emphasis on the creative.   An idea Doug advocates for today.

After 30 years of self-directed experimentation Doug is now a full time oil on canvas and linen professional artist.  After several years of showing/selling his work through Art Galleries and art showings Doug now enjoys welcoming visitors from all corners of the earth to his own studio/gallery for a conversation through art.  

His pursuit is light, and his unique style and his close connection to the landscape and its rich cultural history enables him to create that ethereal perspective he has become so well known for in his landscape and seascapes. His use of light, color and subject matter touches a cord with the viewer worldwide.  

" ....Fraser’s work elicits a sense of quiet reverence for the land. His tranquil and atmospheric paintings are nevertheless evocative. The transcendental quality in his paintings recalls landscape artists from a bygone era, when such dramatically rendered scenes gallantly proclaimed or fiercely rejected human conquest over nature. Like these artists, Fraser asks his audience to consider the relationship between society and the natural environment, imploring us to stop and take notice of the beauty of the world around us.... "
– Laura Schnieder, Curator CBU Art Gallery

Drawing from the rich settings in Nova Scotia Canada, his studio is located on the hills behind the Village of Inverness on the West Coast of Cape Breton Island.  

His work is found in both public and private collections all over the world.