Fowler's childhood experiences of nature left an indelible impression on him, as did a trip to Europe when he was nineteen. Undoubtedly these influences led to his decision to become an artist. Of that initial trip to Europe in 1971, Fowler's strongest memory is one of being totally overwhelmed by what he saw. Paul Duval, in his catalogue essay of Fowler's work, identifies the Venetian masters, Rodin and the Impressionists and notably Monet as artists whose work stood out particularly for Fowler during that formative period.

In the fall of 1971 Fowler began studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design - a period of intense experimentation. Essential to his development was the first-hand exposure to major abstract artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Karl Appel and Arshile Gorky as well as the photo-realist painter Richard Estes and he began his series of colour field paintings which he continued producing until 1977. These canvases were ambitious in size, some measuring as large as five by nine feet. Their cubist synthesis of two and three dimensionality achieve for Fowler a parallel with the compressed space of oriental pictures. The formal construction of these abstractions evidences the beginnings of a vision which searches for a metaphysical unity of object and concept.

Graham Fowler has been exhibiting widely in solo and group shows since 1978. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from Concordia University in 1980 and has been an Associate Professor of Art & Art History at the University of Saskatchewan since 1989. Major solo exhibitions include The Water Paintings, curated by George Moppett for the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatchewan in 2003 and Recent Works, curated by Paul Duval for the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 1985. Graham Fowler's works can be found in the collections of The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Texaco Canada, Calgary, Hudson Bay Corporation Collection, Toronto, The Nova Scotia Art Bank, University of Saskatchewan, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, and Kamloops Art Gallery, British Columbia.