Fraser attended the Savannah Country Day School, and was raised in nearby Hinesville until 1964, when his family moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Since then, he has explored his vision in this vein, constantly developing his formal and expressive skills in portraying subjects ranging from panoramic urban rooftop views to intimate streetscapes to remote island marshlands.

Working this way liberated Fraser from his studio, placing him into the rich fabric of urban life, or by contrast, into unspoiled natural environments, where he has recreated the light and colors of seasons, times of day, and varied atmospheric effects on landscapes and city scenes.

In 2001, the University of South Carolina Press published the monograph Charleston in My Time: The Paintings of West Fraser, which was accompanied by a traveling exhibition to Southeastern museums.

[7] West Fraser partnered with the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry to established a fund for conservation, research, and to support sustainable seafood harvests around Beaufort County into the future.

The mission of The Joseph Bacon and Carolyn Bexley Fraser Sustainable Seafood Harvest Fund, established in the name of Fraser's mother and father, is to provide support for conservation programs and efforts which are focused on maintaining the Port Royal Basin, the Calibogue Sound Basin, and the surrounding areas, as a healthy ecosystems and viable estuaries for a sustainable seafood harvest today and into the future.