Summer Remix

Light House Park (oil  8x10)

Hello again everybody. Once again I must apologize for my blogging break. But this time I'll make it up to you with a special treat at the end of this blog entry. Allow me to now to explain my absence these past couple of months. You see, this is the first year that my daughter has actually had a full summer break from school ( she's a 1st grader now )  And so my wife and I were a bit unprepared as far as a plan for summer activities for her were concerned. Many summer programs for were to expensive to pay for at the last minute. Thankfully we found a place called camp Grandma. Camp Grandma is a fantastic summer camp and the best part about it is that it's FREEEEE!!!! Thanks Mom for watching our chocolaty sweet daughter for us during the weekday mornings this summer.
I've posted a couple of plien air paintings that I did over the summer (yes I have been busy painting) The one above done whilst attending a cook out. The painting you see beneath was done en plien air on Audubon St. in New Haven. While my daughter was attending art classes at the Creative Arts Workshop I figured I'd use that time to brush up on my skills. This was rushed and very, very loose but it's still good to practice.

And now here is what you all have been waiting for the first video featured on my blog. A very moving tribute to Bob Ross put together by the people at PBS. And now may I present to you THE BOB ROSS REMIX. I'll more posts soon Enjoy!

 

A qiuck sketch

                                                   Oil study

This is a small oil painting I did as a warm up for a larger painting that I'm working on. After viewing the blogs of other artists I was reminded of the importance of doing small preliminary paintings and drawings before jumping into the final painting. Many great painters have always  done sketches or studies before creating their masterpieces. The benefit of these quick paintings is that they allow you to resolve composition, drawing, color and value issues before you really get into a painting. Then when it is time to tackle a finished painting,the process goes much more smoothly. I'll post the finished painting when it's done.


In other news I will have another solo art show at the Guilford Library in Guilford CT. next month. I'll have more details on that soon.


And now in completely unrelated news here is a list of movies that I hope will make it to theaters next summer
1.Cap n' Crunch  The Movie in 3-D
2.a re-release of Popeye the Movie in 3-D ( which in my opinion should've happened in 2010 to mark the 30th anniversiky but maybe there holding out for the 35th in 3 more years.... hopefully)

3.The Adventures of a New Haven Artist the Movie in 3-D  (rated G)
Starring Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson as yours truly who was quoted as saying when asked what it took to prepare for the role " Being a former wrestler, I already have a ton of muscles, but I felt in order to do the role true justice I had to spend 2 years of intensive fitness training before I could step in front of the camera for filming."

Just kidding. Stay tuned for my next blog update.    

I promise to make a promise sometime next week....maybe.

                                                           "Sisters"   Oil on canvas  

                                

Greetings all. I apologize for my absence these past several weeks. The last time we spoke I was preparing for a big art reception for the solo exhibition of my work at Cafe George in New Haven. The reception went very well. Despite the fact that it snowed that day, a few people did show up for the event. ( I won't count the two or three that came and knew nothing about the show and could care less about the art and were only there to mooch off of the free food) I'm very grateful to those who were able to make it and I am also grateful to those who very much wanted to come but just were not able to due to the weather and other circumstances. Have no fear dear readers there will be another show this summer. ( I'll have more information on that later ) I would also like to give a very special thank you to Paula and everyone at Cafe George the food was wonderful. And now as mentioned in the post title I will now a solemn ( yet somewhat ambiguous promise ) "I Chris Ferguson, promise to make a promise sometime next week to blog alot more oftener!!!!!!!!"  Yes, I am aware of the horrific grammatical errors in that statement but that just shows how determined I am to make that promise next week ( or possibly next month )   See next time. 

Save the Date!!!!

It seemed to work for public radio....

GUILFORD GREEN (plien air) 8" x 10" Oil

Hello again everybody. This painting can be viewed at Cafe George in New Haven on 300 George St. And I also have a bit of good news. The show was originally scheduled to come down at the end of this month but it has been extended to the end of January. This means that the reception date will be moved to early next month. This actually works out better because it will give me more time to promote the exhibit. I'll be sending out notice about the new date and time shortly. In the meantime don't forget to spread the word.



And now on to other matters. All of us here at FERGUSON ART STUDIOS have been discussing ways to boost sales of my original oil paintings. And so, we've decided to do our first ( and possibly last) annual fund drive to get buyers for the paintings that are available.


We know the economy is bad but we're asking that you give something anything for the painting posted above. Whether it be a dollar a week or two dollars a week, to ensure that we ( me ) here at FERGUSON ART STUDIOS can keep providing for you, day after day, week after week, the art blogs and paintings that you depend on to get you through your day.



Rufus Jenkins of RUFUS JENKINS FRAMING, FINE ART, ANTIQUE APPRAISAL AND BBQ RIBS ( who coincidentally looks a lot like Eddie Murphy doing his famous Buckwheat routine on SNL back in the 1980's) has offered to match dollar for dollar ( up to 25 cents) your contribution to FERGUSON ART STUDIOS.

Now, we tried to NPR legends like Garrison Keillor, Terry Gross or The Car Guys to help with our fund drive but none of them returned our calls. So we found someone more famous than any of them. And now, here she is, from her office Mousie..

"Hello everyone, I'm Mousie CEO of FERGUSON ART STUDIOS"

"I know the economy is bad and things are tight for everyone, and well................."

"I really hate to sound like all of us here at FERGUSON ART STUDIOS are desperate but, if you don't come down to buy a painting.........................."

"I'm going to jump out of your computer screen and bite you!!!"

"Thanks again for supporting FERGUSON ART STUDIOS and now back to our host, Chris.."

Thank you Mousie and again if you would like to buy the painting posted at the top of the page just email us at fergusonartist@yahoo.com We're coming down to the wire. If we don't make any sales to get the funds that we need by 1:00 pm this afternoon the Electric Co. said that they would come down to the art studio and shut off our po--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mork calling Orson, Mork calling Orson.........come in Orson

"Lake Wintergreen" (en plien air) 8"x 10" oil on board

Hello everybody, how are you? As you may have noticed, I've been absent from the blogging scene for a few weeks. No, I haven't fallen off of the face of the Earth as some may have thought (or possibly even hoped) and yes I've still been painting.......quite a bit actually. Part of my blogging delay was due to life and all that it involves. And what were some of the highlights of the past few weeks? Well, my daughter started Kindergarten ( at 35, my hair is now completely grey behind the stressful first couple of weeks my child has so far spent as a kindergartner, but, she's doing much better at her new school now.) And we had, for about 2 months a Miniature Doberman Pinscher ( The hair on my head that had gone completely grey from the stressful first couple of weeks my daughter had in her new school had completely fallen out behind the stress that cute little doggy had put us through.) Don't worry, the dog is doing just fine and will be enjoying a new home. We fostered him.



And now for the really big news. I have a Solo art show that will be running from now until the end of December at CAFE GEORGE BY PAULA on 300 George St. in New Haven. In case you where wondering where it is located allow me to give very detailed instructions.





In the vast expanse of the known universe there are millions of galaxy clusters.









Amidst one of those galaxy clusters..................








..........you will find the Milky Way Galaxy. Don't get too excited the Milky way Galaxy isn't nearly as tasty as it sounds. (It's not made up of milk chocolate , creamy caramel and vanilla ice cream as the name seems to imply. Rather it is made up of about 200 to 400 billion stars and has vast clouds of gases and dust called nebulae as well as something called interstellar medium. Yes, I was disappointed discover that fact too)............









........on the outer rim of the Milky Way Galaxy you'll find our solar system................









.....head to the the third planet from the sun................












.....there you will find planet earth......................









.........go directly to the continent if North America and head toward the northeastern corner of the United States................









....and there you will find the state of Connecticut......go to the central coastline of the state.........











......and you will land in New Haven..............................











....try to land on the New Haven Green if you can, it's easier to get your bearings from here......









........once you've landed, walk down College St. until you get George St...............









.......Keep going.........Do you see that building right there?..............






........that's 300 George st. When you step you inside those doors you'll see signs that will point you to........









........CAFE GEORGE BY PAULA......


Spread the word around if you can I can use all the help I can get. Tell your moms, tell your dads, tell your kids, tell your grandparents, tell your co-workers, tell your pets, tell everybody.


CAFE GEORGE BY PAULA is located at 300 George St. New Haven, CT.
the cafe is open 7:00 am to 3:00 pm Mon. thru Fri. it's not open on weekends.

There will also be an artist reception in a few weeks I'll keep you posted as to when that will be. I'll see in my next entry.

Gonna take to the bridge

Grand Avenue Bridge 8"x 10" Oil on board plien air

Hello again everyone. Once again there has been a brief gap in my blogging recently thanks in part to a new dog in our family (more about him another time). This summer I've been trying to focus on painting en plien air (out of doors) which is not easy. This piece was the third one I've done this summer. This scene is a special place for me. It's the Grand Avenue Bridge in New Haven. When I was a kid we lived just a couple of blocks away from this bridge. My dad would take me for long walk when I was about 4 or 5 sometimes we were able to go up to the house on top of the bridge to meet with the bridge operator. One time we were able to be inside the house when it opened to let boats through. Painting this scene from life was definitely a wonderful time to think about my childhood memories. Now that I've talked about the painting let me tell what happened whilst working on this painting. You are not gonna believe this one. So, I dropped off my daughter with my sister who lives nearby while I went to paint. As I left her at my sisters my daughter asked "Daddy are you going off to have an adventure?" She must of seen all my painting equipment in the trunk of the car. I replied "sort of," but boy did I have an adventure that day. First I found a nice quiet spot in the park along the Quinnipiac River to capture the bridge on canvas. Everything started off very nicely. Then I heard a man approaching from the distance who is obviously intoxicated. So I keep painting hoping he would keep it movin' and pass me by. That didn't happen. "HEY arrreeeeyouuuuuuuan ARTisssttt!????!!?" he asked. "Yes" I replied quietly. "WOOOOWWWW!!!!! that is realllrlrllrrlry nice" "You got the BBBRBbbrbriiigde in there and every thing." "Thank you " I replied. He just stood and kept rambling on but I continued working politely acknowledging him. Then his friend came along who was also drunk but not as drunk. "LLLOOOOOOKKKK at thisguy he a PRofffffffeessional!!!" the first man said to his friend. I didn't hear what the other guy said in reply I just wanted them both to go away. I kept painting. The first man continued to ramble on about how he could of been somebody and how he could of been a contender. (or something like that) Finally the not so drunk man said to his friend "Why don't you bothering the guy? Can't you see he's busy!!???" The first man then proceed to compliment even louder. I kept painting. Next a large family comes my way and the first man start yelling " HHEEEEYYYY! YYOUUUUUUSEEEEEEEE THIZZZZGUUYYYYY?????" The family stops and looks and then goes about their business. But one member of the family, a boy about 9 or 10 years old stays and watches while I work. The first drunk man seems to be getting louder and finally the boy starts telling the man be quiet. I continue painting quietly. Then the boy starts asking me questions about painting and other things and he begins to tell me about himself. He plays baseball, he likes drawing etc. He was a very nice kid and I enjoyed talking to him. Meanwhile the two Drunk men are now arguing with each other right behind me and the boy has to interrupt his conversation with me to try to reason with them. The comes back and watches me paint meanwhile the second man say under his breath "I'm tired of this". Next I know he's on his cell phone with the police. The police are there in minutes. I hear them getting out of there cars and I hear one the officers say, "DROP IT!!!" This is going in on just several feet from behind me and I'm still painting non stop. I'm either very focused, very patient or very stupid. Minutes later an ambulance is there taking the first man away and the other man is in the back of the squad car. The boy then told me that the first man pulled out a knife and waved it in front of the second man. Now, had I known all this was going on behind me I would have gotten out of there faster than James Brown getting away from a taping of the Lawrence Welk Show. As the police and ambulance drove away the boy asked if I could paint a picture of what had just happened but he didn't understand that I couldn't paint that fast. Now, mind this park is very big and yet nobody was there before I showed up and then before I knew it all of this activity gravitated toward the one spot that I was in. It was as if I were the Sun in a solar system drunken planets. For the record this park is very nice, scenic and peaceful but this was just one of those days. I'm sure your now wondering if I'm satisfied with this painting. The answer to that question is NOOO!!! I'm thinking of using this board as fuel for the campfire on our families next camping trip. Having said that, I will keep it because whenever you do a painting directly from life you learn to become a better painter. Will I go back to that park to paint again? Absolutely. But for those of you who want to know when exactly I'll be out there again.....well............I'm afraid that I'll have to plead the Fifth Dimensions on specific question. I'll post some more Plein Air paintings in my coming entries. See you soon