Are You Lookin' at Me?

Yup...he's as bright as that! I love painting cows...must find some more models.

So the story goes...our neighbors raised two cows several years ago. Our daughter Sadie, who was about 7 at the time, loved those cows. She named them Chocolate and Cocoa, visited them frequently in their field, fed them hay and just generally adored them. One day they went missing, so to speak. And a few weeks later our neighbor came to the door generously offering a bag of freshly ground beef. I couldn't bring myself to tell Sadie who was in the bag, nor could I eat the burgers. Luckily we have a vegetarian in the family who was making veggie burgers that night. She offered one to anyone who wanted. I quickly volunteered...and much to my relief, so did Sadie! Though, throughout the entire meal, our son, who was in on the 'secret' kept licking his lips, smacking loudly  and proclaiming repeatedly, "These are the BEST hamburgers I've EVER eaten!" Ha!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Just a Little Fall

I like the way this little tree asserted herself in bold fall color. :o)

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
SOLD

A Little Bird Told Me

We feed the birds year round and are lucky to have  hosted bluejays, chickadees, turkeys, hummingbirds, cardinals, woodpeckers, barn swallows, finches and many many more...including this sparrow who perched long enough on the deck railing for me to photograph.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
SOLD

I'm Knobby and I Know It

I've coveted (i.e. lusted after!) this little vase ever since I first saw it on Carol Marine's blog here. When I recently visited Carol at her home in Oregon, I spotted it on her still life shelf. She graciously let me use it and some sweet cherry tomatoes to set up a still life for photographing. I painted it once I was back home in Maine.

Oil on panel, $100 +$10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Jill-O-Happy

Here's the companion to the painting I did the other day. Same pumpkin, same front steps, different angle. I was surprised at how dark I had to go for the inside of the pumpkin.  I hope there are more treats than tricks for you!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
SOLD

Outstanding In Her Field

Here's another Common Ground Fair critter. I toned the panel with Yellow Ochre to begin and as the painting progressed, I really liked the flat background color, so left it as it was. Not sure if it's visible on your  monitor but the flat color fades back separating the goat further into the foreground. A happy accident. :o)

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
SOLD

Fallful

I snapped these photos on a visit to a local orchard when apple picking. Fall is here in full swing with a touch of winter-ish in Maine. It's cold! But that's ok...it's perfect outdoor hot tub weather!  Which is actually where I'm heading... with my glass of wine... as soon as I'm finished here!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Jack-O-Happy

Just gettin' into the spirit of things! 

Oil on panel, 6"x 6"

SOLD

Besties

I shot loads of photos of this pair at the fair. I don't think they minded... since they didn't stop once from their grazing to even take notice. I was really focusing on the light in my painting. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Hope they are, too!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6" SOLD

Soaking Up the Sun

I'm having a ball with these critters. Last year's sheep/goat series was fun, too....and focused on their faces. Click here to see the series. If you scroll up and down a ways you'll see them all. It's been fun to capture the natural light on these guys as they graze in the sun. 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6" $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Kindred Spirits

More sheep and goats from this year's Common Ground Agricultural Fair. So many reference photos! :o)

Oil on panel, 6' x 6"
SOLD

Textural

I'm delighted to be hosting the Daily Paintworks Challenge this week. It's all about creating texture. If you'd like to participate and see other artist's entries, please visit here.  This old guy posed for me at the Common Ground Fair.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Fish Out of Water

I enjoyed painting these fish so much the first time around, I decided to have another go at it.  I love trying to capture their jelly-like eyes and slippery wet scales. And though they are a cool subject, I gotta admit it wasn't nearly as much fun as painting with Carol Marine!

Here are my two versions...

...and you can check out Carol's here.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

White Sheep of the Family

Again trying to focus on the graphic quality of the sheep in a line and their one swath of cast shadow. I love the shadow cast on the white sheep by his close neighbor. Having fun with these! 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
SOLD

Two of a Kind

This begins a series of sheep and goat paintings from snaps I took at this fall's Common Ground Agricultural Fair. Every year I go with my artist friend, Kath, and we shoot enough photos to last a good long time. For this particular series, I really wanted to focus on the light and shadow, keeping the details simple. I'm pleased with how this turned out.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Double B

More bees! Really so much fun to paint these fuzzy guys. Another one for the Daily Paintworks Challenge.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Ore-Gone

I painted this with my friend Carol on one of my last days visiting her in Oregon...thus the title.  If you'd like to paint it or a similar bee please feel free to join in the fun at Daily Paintworks. It was last week's challenge and there are some terrific entries!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Something's Fishy

I'm just returning from a GLORIOUS memorable week out west visiting my friend, Carol Marine, in Oregon. What a time we had! Among loads of other fun, we painted together. After three fish markets, we found the beauties we were looking for. I had the first shot at the sardines...since I worked from photos. Then Carol set up her still life with the real things. Poor girl...the warm lights did nothing to help with the smell! Neither of us looked at the others' set up or painting until we were both completely finished. I don't know about the fish, but Carol and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

The Secret Life

I leave you with one last bee...up close and personal. Early tomorrow morn I'm flying across the country to Oregon to spend a week with my dear bud, Carol. We have MUCH to celebrate, including her belated birthday, creative projects, art and life! We'll play and paint and play some more. Life is sweet and I am profoundly blessed and eternally grateful.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Pair There

The orchard nearby where we pick our apples also has pears. They have a limited number of pear trees, so you can't pick your own...but they kindly let me wander the rows each year with my camera.This is my entry for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Blackhead

This is my entry for this week's challenge at Daily Paintworks. I was on Monhegan Island a week after the challenge submitter, my friend Bruce. How cool is that?! I painted from my own photo of Blackhead. What an amazing place...

Oil on panel, 6" x 6'
SOLD

Busy Bee

I've really been enjoying painting the bees with their bright sunflower backgrounds. And actually I'm finding that I prefer painting the bees using the same sized brush as the rest of the painting(size 4 or 5 flat) rather than a smaller round. I get less picky that way.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
SOLD

Taking Our Bows

Here's the last of this little series of the single mini pear from my tree. I especially enjoyed this series because of the light. Just love trying to capture it.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Overshadowed

Gotta admit...this one and tomorrow's paintings are two of my recent favorites. I smiled the whole time I painted them.  I love that the vase and pear are similar in size and shape. They'll both be back for an encore tomorrow...

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Little Red

Another sunflower variety. They're endless! :o) Here's some fun painting music.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Shades of Red

More bees! They're everywhere...just doing our part to pollinate!  I love these orangey-red sunflowers. Tomorrow my friend and fellow artist, Kath and I are heading to the Common Ground Country Fair. It's where we snap TONS of reference photos for months of inspiration. I shoot produce and sheep and Kath photographs gentle hippies! :o) Can't wait!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6" SOLD

Don't Worry Bee Happy

There are a couple more pear paintings to come...but I thought I'd switch things up a bit with a sunflower. Plenty more of those to come, too! And some music for you.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Solo

This year's single pear...and its leaves. 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Made for Each Other

Four years ago, knowing that pears were my favorite painting subject, my husband bought me two pear trees for Mother's Day. The first year, the trees grew a bit but produced no pears. The second year, one of the trees grew a tiny ping pong ball sized pear that never got any bigger. Year three produced nothing. This year, the other tree produced one pear. It only got to about the size of a small plum! I've done four paintings of it so far...I'm trying to get all I can from it! Who knows if and when another might appear! I love how the mini vase and tiny pear are the same size.

Here's the actual pear next to the 6" x 6" painting.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Lefty

Here's the other half of yesterday's feathered friends. As I mentioned in the previous post, it was cool to paint both of these at the same time...working back and forth from one panel to the other. There are a few images of the paintings in progress below. With the similar and consistent background, I think they'd make a nice pair

either curious...

or aloof.

 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

 

Righty

This is one of a pair of seagulls. The fun part was I painted them together...at the same time. They were on my easel side by side and I worked back and forth between the two. I'll post the other half tomorrow as well as photos of the process.

Oil on panel, 6" x 6", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

It's All About Balance

This painting was done from an old set of reference photos. I painted many from this shoot, but was going through them recently and wanted to try this set up. I just love painting pears...have I mentioned that before? Sometimes ya just need the comfort of the familiar. For some reason this music seemed appropriate. ;o)

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD