Hello! I'm Sheena
Painter, Colourist, Teacher and Traveller
A Passion For Painting
I was born in Montreal, Quebec and there I painted from an early age in the studio of my artist grandfather A. M. Pattison. My Scottish grandfather, William Fraser, was also a talented artist. He became an architect and created the Robert Burns Memorial in Mauchline, Scotland,and the School of Household Sciences building in Toronto along with many other important buildings. He also helped design Halifax harbour after the explosion. Building on this heritage, I studied art in Montreal at the Musee de Beaux Arts and McGill. I completed an art degree with Canadian landscape painter Gordon Smith at the University of British Columbia, graduating with a double major in painting and printmaking. There, I won a scholarship to spend a summer painting at the Banff School of Fine Art.
These days I paint with acrylic paints on canvas and prefer to use bold colours to create a mood and an excitement.
A Passion for the North
I like to paint ‘stories’ about where I have travelled while researching with my author husband Ken McGoogan.
We have travelled extensively throughout the Canadian Arctic and Greenland but lately we have been travelling in Orkney and Scotland. We continue to travel to Nova Scotia, Ontario highlands and Alberta. This year we will add France to our list.
In Orkney and the Scottish Highlands I like to paint the old crofts, the mountains and the landscape; in Nova Scotia I often paint scenes of the towns and places that we visit.
Recent Travels
