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. 

It's art! Not brain science...I mean rocket surgery....I mean...

"Beach Scene #2" Oil 20"x 16"

Hello again all you New Haven artist readers. Please pardon my absence these past few weeks. I've been very busy with painting commissions and...well.....life. But enough about me, let's talk about this new painting, shall we? This painting represents a return to a subject matter that I absolutely love in painting. The human figure. Particularly woman and children. Capturing them on canvas doing simple everyday things. For me these are subjects that are most interesting. Children tend to be very animated and spontaneous. There is never any false pretense with children, just honesty filled with life and innocence. I also enjoy painting images of woman doing the everyday things that you might see; waiting for the bus, window shopping, conversing with friends (don't you hate it when people say "conversating". The word is CONVERSING!!!) To me women have much more interesting postures when doing these everyday activities. There is also more variety with each individual; hairstyles are very different, etc. I sort of departed from these favored subject for a while to create smaller, faster and less complicated images to broaden my ability to paint a variety of subject matter. I feel that I have accomplished that purpose,........for now. It is now time for me to get back to the subjects that I enjoy most. You'll see more of these kinds of painting in future blog updates with occasional paintings of other subjects I've worked on but never had the chance to post on line. Now moving to other things, you'll notice by the title of this entry that I've been pondering what makes a person a great artist. Does it take a genius to be a great artist? The answer to that is no. There are many people whom I do consider to be true genius's. For instance in the world of science there's Albert Einstein, George Washington Carver, Dr. Emmett Brown (inventor of the DeLorean Time Machine), and the late Jimmy Neutron. In the world of music there is Beethoven, Stevie Wonder, James Brown. Also Bob Dorough, George Newall and Lynn Ahrens the primary song writers for the School House Rock cartoon series. Also there are James Brown( yes I mentioned him twice). Other people on my list of brilliant minds are Jim Henson and Walt Disney. But there are also people in the world of visual art who were genius's, Sir Thomas Lawrence, James Whistler, Leonardo Da Vinci to name a few. But to truly be a great artist you don't need a brilliant mind. All you need to do is to be able to pick up a pencil or paint brush and create something. That's something even a small child can do. My 5 year old daughter is creating what I consider to be true masterpieces. No they won't hang in a fancy museum or art gallery and no they won't be selling for thousands of dollars ( like that kid in Great Britain, boy, compared to him I actually have to pay people to take my paintings) But to me my daughter's works are priceless. No you certainly don't have to be a genius to create good works of art. Take me for instance, I recently took an I.Q. test and found out that I have the I.Q. of a German Shepherd. No, not a person who herds sheep in Munich but a doggy German Shepherd. At first I was disturbed by this news but than I found out that German Shepherds are the most intelligent breeds of dog in the world. I felt much better. ( no offense to you sheep herders residing in Germany) Well I've rambled enough for today. I'll see you in my next entry.

Movin' on up!

"Party of Eight" 23" x 17" Oil on canvas Singing: Well, we're movin' on up (movin' on up) - To the east side (movin' on up) - To a deluxe apartment in the sky - Movin' on up ( movin' on up) - To the east side - We finally got a piece of the pie............. Okay, so once again I've made a reference to a classic T.V. theme song to set up the subject of my recent blog entry. The last classic T.V. theme that I sang in my blog was Three's Company so that people would " come and knock on my door" and check out my very first open studio event. In the past 3 weeks I haven't got much painting done, but this was for a very good reason........We've moved. We are still in New Haven of course {*see title above } but we've moved to a place with a better studio space. I'll have some new paintings to show and I hope to be much more productive in the new space. No we haven't moved to a deluxe apartment in the sky, but it is a lovely place. In the meantime I'll leave you with this to ponder; Fish do indeed fry in the kitchen, you just have to make sure that there is plenty of ventilation. Also beans certainly will burn on the grill if left unattended. Before I go here is my new art studio. TAAAA DAAAAAAA.

And now I will finish today's blog entry by singing the closing theme to The Jefferson's starting with that brilliant piano solo. (Da De Da Dum Dum Dum De Dum -Da da da dum da da da dum dum dum - de dum de dum de dum de dum de dum - Mmm- Mmm- Mmm-Mmm mm mm, Mmm mm Mmm mmm mmmm mmm - MMmm MMmmm MMmm MM mmmmm mm MMmmm mmm Mmmm mmm mmm mmMMmm Well, we're movin' on UUUUP.....................................................................)

"I have only one gear,........SLOW!!!"

"Mother and daughter" Oil on canvas 18" x 24"

For me a wild and crazy evening is watching old episodes of Bowling for Dollars on YouTube. I get sleepy at 8:30 p.m. I'm a 35 year old with the mindset of someone 25 years older. For instance how many people in my age range do you know who: 1. Has Bread's greatest hits on cassette tape and has been meaning to buy the CD format of the album for the past ten years. 2. Tells everyone in the car to shush whenever Roger Whitaker's song, The last farewell plays on the oldies radio station and then blast's the volume. 3. Hear's an old song by Nat King Cole and say's, "Boy that song brings back memories" only to hear someone else reply, "What are you talking about, you weren't even thought of when that song came out!" 4. Use the term "whippersnapper" for kids under the age of ten years old. 5. Use slang expressions from the 1930's like "Gee fellas, that sounds swell." It's seem's like I've always been an old man. This would explain why it took me a year in a half to finish this painting. What took so long wasn't so much going back to it again and again until it was perfect. It had more to with the fact that it was a very challenging painting and I was scared to finish it. So, I put in the corner of my studio space and pretended it wasn't there for a while. Deep down I knew I had to finish this painting but the problem was that I didn't know how. Finally, I got the courage to finish it and it turn out O.K. I had to step out of my comfort zone with this painting but, I discovered that by doing that, I learned a lot more. This reminds me that I must always push myself further in order for my paintings to improve. In the meantime, there are things that I'll never get used to, like text messaging. It takes me forever to write a simple message. Honestly, I don't know how these young whippersnappers do it. That's the other thing that bothers me, how does one drive whilst one is sending and responding to text messages. I don't get how people are even able to do both things at once. I always have to make sure that I'm sitting down somewhere whenever I decide to chew a piece of bubblegum. Well, I've rambled on long enough in today's entry. Stay tuned for my next painting; another beach scene.

If three is company, more is an open studio event

"Three friends" oil on canvas 16" x 20"

(singing) "Come and knock on our door-come and knock on our door" "Take a step that is new-take a step that is new" "We've a wonderful space that needs your face and some paintings to view. Dee Dah Dee Dah Dah." Pardon me, but this is the first time I've actually sung in one of my blog entries. Aren't you glad you can't hear me through your computer. I figured the theme to Three's Company would be a fitting start for this blog entry because for the first time I'll be inviting people to my studio to see what happens behind the scenes. Also because I think the theme song to Three's Company was one of the best T.V. theme songs ever; but I digress. What I intend to do is set a day to invite a small group of people and from there I'll post my email address so that others who are interested can contact me to set up a time to come to see the studio. So, what can you expect to see at my very first open studio event. New paintings, paintings that are still in progress, and maybe a brief painting demonstration. Also there will be some light refreshments. This will be the usual open studio type of snacks like cheese and crackers and there will even be some expensive and fancy wines the names of which I can't pronounce. Actually, it won't be expensive wine; it will be one of those $7.00 bottles of wine that they now sell at Seven-Eleven...................Actually, it will be more like a very high end grape juice.............................Actually, it will just be regular grape juice. But, it will be one of the finest bottles of Welch's Grape Juice that money can buy.................................................O.K., it's only going those small children's juice boxes with pictures of Big Bird, Elmo and the Cookie Monster printed in on them. (artist's budget) Now you might be wondering who you'll see their. You'll see me. (sorry, but that will be unavoidable) You'll also get to meet my family.......I think. You'll also get to meet Meer The Pig, my 4 year old daughter's imaginary friend. (someone please tell me that that's normal for her age.) "How will the event end?" you may be asking yourselves. It might end with me doing a comedic prat fall over the living room couch. Followed by the laughter and applause of a live studio audience and then a closing title sequence. ( I admit, I probably watched a bit too much television when I was 5 years old) Look forward to seeing you. If your interested in coming please contact me at fergusonartist@yahoo.com I will fill you in on the details; date, time, location, etc. to anyone interested if you email me. Look forward to hearing from you.

WHAT!? You actually sold something?

"Evening Conversation" Oil on Canvas SOLD This just in. This painting has just been sold. I created this image 7 years ago and showed it in several venues over the years and now, finally, it sold. The buyer is the father of one of the woman in the painting that I used as models for this image. For privacy purposes, I'll give him the alias, "Manuel San Antonio Boulevardez". Actually he's a very good friend of mine and I'm glad this painting will have a new home. It just goes to show that you never know when someone will be moved buy a painting even after you've had it for awhile. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go digging through the trash to find the sales receipt book that I thought I'd never have any use for. :o) More adventures coming soon.

You want me to paint what?!

A Walk In the Park

18 X 24

Welcome to my first blog entry. In these blogs you will see paintings that are positive and colorful. There are some in the art world who create images that are designed to shock or stir up controversy but I prefer to follow the Bob Ross line of thought "happy trees and puffy little clouds." Be assured dear viewers that I will never create images that are shocking, dark, disturbing, scary, controversial or nightmarish. Having said that; I do plan on working on a self portrait in the future and I'm sure the very idea of this many would find disturbing, scary and nightmarish but I digress. If you like to order a print of this image or purchase the original painting contact me @ FERGUSONARTIST@YAHOO.COM My website be will up soon so stay tuned for my next posting.