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 magazine
Gallery of Brenda Ferguson Art |
Gallery: Brenda Ferguson
by Brenda Ferguson
May, 2004
American Artist asked Brenda Ferguson
to comment on her paintings in the Online Exclusive gallery. Here's what she had to say about her work.
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"For this painting, I was lucky enough to find just the right pastel colors to show the luminosity of the peeled tangelo, which had originally attracted me. I kept the focus of the painting directed on the one bright section of gauzy fruit."
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A Peeling Tangelo
2003, pastel, 16 x 12
Collection of the artist.
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"This is another large painting for me. I love the variety of shapes, colors, and textures of gourds. I planted several varieties in my garden so that I would be able to incorporate them into paintings. I shot the reference photo for this painting outside on a sunny day, then worked to capture the effect of that bright sunlight and the strong shadows it formed on the gourds."
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Five Gourds,
2002, pastel, 20 x 26
Collection of the artist.
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"I love painting eggs. Luckily I have friends who keep geese and chickens. I have literally hundreds of reference photos of eggs that I've shot at various times. I find it challenging to get the light and shadows on their smooth surface to appear realistic. As in this piece, I strive for high contrasts in my paintings and have become much more daring in using the strong values I need to achieve this."
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Intimate
2004, pastel, 7 1/2 x 5
Collection of the artist
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"When I shoot reference photos, particularly for florals, I am often not interested in the plant itself, or even the flower, but a more intimate view. My interest in this subject was focused on the shadows cast across the petals by the spiky fingers of the flower's center. I had previously attempted this painting on regular pastel paper and was unable to develop it to the point I wanted before the tooth of the paper was filled. I attempted it again with sanded paper and was successful in building up the many layers necessary to get the subtle gradations of tone in the petals."
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Energy
2004, pastel, 7x 5
Collection of Carrie Chester
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"Though overall, this
painting is mostly middle values, I wanted to portray the
bright sunlight from the window with a splash of high-contrast
light on the tablecloth."
(This image also illustrates how Ferguson works on paper much larger than the completed image, using a portion of the paper to test colors.)
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Click to see finished art
Easy Come, Easy Go
2004, pastel, 7 x 8 1/2
Collection of the artist
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"One of the
consistent challenges I face in using pastels is getting deep
enough darks. I do not use white or black in my paintings, so
I look for livelier colors to achieve the same effects. Though
I have purchased the sets of dark colors offered by several
pastel manufacturers, I have found them lacking. I use
Sennelier's intense blue No. 463 in nearly every painting to
get my darkest value. I wanted the white dogwoods in Dogwood Festival to pop out of the dark background.
After laying in the intense blue No. 463, I then lightly
applied denatured alcohol with a soft brush over the dark
pastel. This serves to 'melt' the pastel particles, decreasing
their reflective properties and giving me a good dark
value."
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Dogwood Festival
2004, pastel, 8 x 12
Collection of Meredith Player Stiehl
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"In this work, I was interested in the larger shapes shown in the painting - the almost-square shape outside of the painting itself, the round plate, and the triad of the pears. I liked the simplicity of the subject."
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Trio
2002, pastel, 10 x 10
Collection of the artist
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"I am drawn to, and
challenged by, trying to capture the translucent quality of
certain subjects, so I return again and again to painting
grapes, plums, and oranges. I find I can maintain the
luminosity if I use a light touch with my pastels. In Exposed, I wanted most of the orange to remain in
shadow, but I heightened the interest of the painting with the
light catching the edges of the pith."
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Exposed
2004, pastel, 7 1/2 x 5 1/2
Collection of Kathy Mallat.
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"The First of
Many was so named because it literally was the first painting I did in 2004 and the first of 80 paintings I hope to complete for a show I will host at my studio/home in December 2004. I am fortunate to live in rural Maine in a town with several apple orchards, which I visit every fall with my camera. The simplicity of this painting seemed like an appropriate way to begin a new year of creating."
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The First of Many
2004, pastel, 6 x 4 1/2
Collection of the artist.
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"This is one of the largest paintings I've done. Again a simple subject - ripe peaches arranged on an antique platter - but I wanted the up-close perspective, making the peaches appear much larger than life, sun-warmed, and ripe."
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Ripe Peaches
2002, pastel, 24 x 20
Collection of the artist.
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"In this painting, I was
interested in the way the sunlight caught and illuminated the
stamens. To capture the powdery effect on the ends of the
stamens, I pushed the edges of freshly broken pastel sticks
firmly into the paper, almost building up a third dimension."
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Cup of Gold
2004, pastel, 7 1/2 x 6
Collection of the artist.
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"This painting was as much about
the shadows cast by the pears as the pears themselves. The
long shadows cast by the late afternoon sun became an integral
part of the painting's composition."
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Threesome
2002, pastel, 18 x 12
Collection of the artist.
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Back to the Article
This gallery is only online at the magazine site
for the July 2004 issue, along with her commentary.
However, this selection will continue to be online here at www.brendaferguson.com.
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