Rebecca L. Fraser artist – Circle Foundation for the Arts

What themes does your work involve?

My artwork involves humanity: family, friends, and strangers. I imagine their history and their dreams.

Describe your creative process.

The beginning of creation for me starts with imagination, not with hands. Afterwards, I sketch, paint, or make a maquette. The piece, itself, tells me when it is finished.

What influences your work? What inspires you?

Subtle and varied influences have shaped my unfolding as a ceramist artist: my background as a painter, sculptor, jeweler, and potter -- exposure to the bold colors of California culture contrasting with the quiet of the land -- the continual movement and form of contemporary life. All this flow across the surface of my work.

What is good art? What makes a piece of art great?

Good art engages the viewer. Great art takes the viewer to places in his mind he would not find alone.

What is the role of the artist today?

As a child, I always remember wanting to be an artist. My mother sent me to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. for Saturday painting classes. She always regretted not developing her own creativity. Then, an art teacher cousin gave me my first canvas and a set of oil paints. I was determined to have my own vision. In contemporary society, art should gratify and probe the viewer, who thus becomes creative along with the artist.