Robert R. Ferguson

After a successful career as a journalist and author, Robert Ferguson has returned to his first two loves: painting and photography. Since 2000, he has created more than 75 paintings and 1,000 images. He has three distinctive styles of paintings- bird and wildlife, portraiture and Abstract Expressionism. Ferguson paints in both acrylic and in oil and whenever possible, he builds his own frames and stretchers.

Using traditional film and digital imaging, Ferguson prints his own black-and-white silver prints. His photos and illustrations have appeared in numerous publications and on dozens of greeting cards and calendars, and he has recently begun selling his work on the yessy.com electronic gallery. He prefers, however, to sell original work rather than prints.

Ferguson's art philosophy harkens back to his college days at Youngstown State University, where he studied painting. "We were taught a very personal visual interpretation of objects," he says. "Forms and color which were usually found in nature and in the everyday world around us, and it is expressed and sometimes recreated through either paint or the photographic method. These techniques have emerged over the last century, and have been improved upon with each emerging generation of artists and photographers."

Like his first art hero, Willem de Kooning, he believes that art is a continuum of the work that preceded it, hopefully refined to help us see our world differently today, and to guide us into understanding the future. Ferguson also believes that art should have a sense of humor and a visual personality of its own that brings joy to the people who view it. He is heavily influenced by the work of the 1950s painters--de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Franz Kline--and the photography of Man Ray and Roger Tory Peterson.

"I work and live in Florida, so I have observed birds and wildlife in their native habitat for over 20 years. My paintings and photos come directly from this field work observation," he says.

For more information, call 386-852-8440; e-mail rrfmentor@aol.com; visit www.robertrfercluson.com.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Summit Business Media
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning