King of the Mountain

I loved this guy's stance. Sort of territorial, wouldn't you say? I like how the only bit of real warmth in this piece is his beak. Do you see just a hint of his spotted tail feathers?

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Headlight

Going for the drama here with the dark background.  This was painted on a panel coated with black gesso and then I went over the background again with a mixture of Alizarin, Ultramarine and Pthalo Blue. Here's some great painting music.

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Big Red

I love the challenge of making a subject emerge from the background. I toned the panel with Cad red for this one and let it show through in certain areas of the rooster. I like the effect and the glow you can achieve by doing this. I also thought more about line for this painting than I usually do. Here's the musical inspiration...and I was. :o)

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Bee Happy

This is one of those feel good paintings! Sunflowers and bumblebees. This subject seemed to warrant a bit more intimacy, so it's 5" x 5". And here's some feel good painting music. 

Oil on panel, 5" x 5", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendferguson.com

Suspended

Must be the season but my interest these days has been on flowers. More to come!

Here's today's musical inspiration. 

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

High Five

This is the final of five forsythias. I really enjoyed painting this series. I love the subject and the color combination. So thankful to my photographer bud who sent the images along. Here's some awesome music for painting.

Oil on panel, 5" x 5", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 

or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com 

Two of the pieces are 6" x 6"

and three are 5" x 5".

In Full Bloom

Here's the musical inspiration. 

Oil on panel, 5" x 5", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Out on a Limb

This is the first of three smaller ( 5" x 5" ) forsythia paintings. I like the intimacy of a smaller piece for this subject. The three would make a sweet trio. I'll post the others over the next two days. Here's some of the music that had me feelin' all right. :o)

Oil on panel, 5" x 5", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

What Kindle?

No offense to eBook readers...I'm just not there yet. These are actually not books I've read. I purchased them long long ago before I was even a painter...just because I loved their weathered look, their worn edges, their smell, their feel...their soul. I'm very pleased with how this painting turned out....but I gotta tell ya, it wasn't easy gettin' there! So much reflected color and light, angles, etc. Books are near and dear to my heart. I read every night before bed...unless the Celtics are playing on the west coast  and have a late game! Here's some of the musical inspiration. 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

For those inquiring minds who want to know...here are the book titles, top to bottom: 
Lucile, Premier Livre, Dame Care, The Prince of the House of David, The Transplanting of Tessie, No Place to Hide, Arthur Bonnicastle, The Face in the Aspic. 

Foursythia

I painted this for the Daily Paintworks Warm/Cool Challenge. Here's the great music that had me boogying while I painted.

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

For Sythia

This is the first in a series of five forsythia paintings. Try saying that three times fast! I don't have a forsythia bush. But my friend does. He surprised me with many reference photos of them in my Inbox recently. Virtual flowers...what a gift! Here's some FUN painting music. 

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

The Lone Ranger

This is a beautiful twisted piece of driftwood I brought home one time from our land in Cape Breton. We attached it to the deck railing to hang a bird feeder from. It's received LOADS of traffic. I love the simplicity of this composition. In fact I have lots of other reference photos of the grackles on this 'pole' and I'm thinking they'd look great on some larger tall narrow canvases. Here's the musical inspiration as I painted. Love it!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Straight and Narrow

I'm not sure if these are ravens, crows, grackles... but I love their attitude. Such characters! This reminded me of performing on the balance beam in my younger (much!) gymnast days. I'm pleased with the contrast of the soft background grays. Here's some fun painting music.

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Tender Flesh

I've done a similar piece before, but wanted to try a different color scheme. This version was inspired by the Daily Paintworks Challenge to create a mostly white painting. I'm really pleased with it. And here's the rockin' musical inspiration that I'm lovin'!

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

We're In This Together

I love the unassuming daisy. :o)

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Earthly Treasures

These are the things I love surrounding myself with. This is an intimate little 5" x 5" painting. I thought that fit the subject. I painted it for the Daily Paintworks White Challenge. My whites are rarely that...but I tried. Here's some light hearted music to go with a light hearted painting.

Oil on panel, 5" x 5", $100 + $10 domestic shipping

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Chorus Line

I really like these fun subjects. I was a bit intimidated by marbles initially, but I'm much more comfortable with them now. Though I never take any subject for granted! Where has this music been all my life? Love it! More to come...

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Free Ride

Well, there's one way to get lots of color into your painting...paint your palette! This one was just plain fun. I was painting the other day and ladybugs had crawled all over my brushes. It's that time of year...they're everywhere! So I took a snap...et viola! And once again, so weird for my brain to wrap around...using paint to paint paint. And here's some appropriate music. 

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

 
or contact brend@brendaferguson.com

Whisper of Spring

I really had fun with this one. I sometimes struggle with keeping my flowers light but am pleased with the delicacy this time. It's one of those paintings where I achieved what I envisioned.
I also tried something a bit different. My friend Suzanne Berry recently told me she pre-mixes her paints before beginning a piece and loves the freedom it allows once she starts the painting process. I gave it a try. These were the piles of paint I mixed up before beginning.

Though I misjudged how much paint I'd use (I over mixed), I enjoyed just being able to focus on the painting and will try it again at some point. Scroll down to see the painting process.

 

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"

SOLD

I lightly sketched in the placement of the branch with a white Nupastel  and applied the lightest paint colors.

 

Then I just continued building up layers of color...with a light touch! First the warm petals...

 

...then the cool shadows.

 

 

 

Glass Half Full

This is a peony from my mom's garden. I was visiting her last year and this beautiful blossom had fallen off her plant. I snagged it and snapped several photos. I recently came across it and decided to  have a shot at painting it. I love this uplifting music!

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

A Day at the Beach

I painted this from a reference photo I took on a trip to Bar Harbor recently. It was a beautiful brisk day with strong winds so lots of waves. AWESOME! I rarely use a knife to paint, but it seemed to work well for the foreground rocks today. You can see in the detail below.

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

Only Have Eyes for You

Here's the last in the wing series. This is a huge moth (see image below of my daughter's hand) we discovered on our front door many years ago. I've not seen any like it before or since.  I love this version of an old classic tune. I used to sing it to our kids when we were out in the hot tub under the stars...fond memories.

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

 
or contact brenda@brendaferguson.com

And here's a montage of the wing series. I worked from reference photos I shot myself over the past several years