Therese Ferguson, USA

For Therese Payne Ferguson, art has always been a part of her life and has come naturally as a passion. She studied at Eastern Florida College studyingdrawing, design and painting in oils and acrylics. After seeing a demonstration by a local watercolorists, she started exploring this medium on her own. Over the years, she has been fortunate to take workshops with top national watercolor instructors.

Her style is bold and bright. It stands out when you enter the room because of her use of strong values and composition and attention to realism. It draws you in to come closer to take time to absorb all of t he emotion and beauty in the painting, and there you discover her painterly brush strokes.

“My journey as an artist allows me to grow every single day. I continue to explore and experiment in the watercolor medium with every painting I create. I love the transparent glow that you achieve by mingling colors, building up layers or adding various techniques. It's like magic with every brush stroke. Sometimes it will takes me on a different path or a journey than what I had planned, but always opening new and wonderfully exciting explorations of color, light and shadow. Whether it’s a charming front porch, flowers full of life, wildlife, interesting people, or bold and colorful still lifes, every painting is an exploration and a challenge to see how I can make it jump out at you and draw a personal or emotional response while you are viewing my work. I want to achieve a realistic painting but still have a painterly touch when you see the brush work.”

While some of her subjects are “found” and others evolve in the studio, they all benefit from a creative eye to some degree, often by adding stronger or different colors, simplifying the images, or focusing in on a particular area to bring the subjects to life. Having worked in many different styles, abstract and impressionistic, it is the realism that is more challenging and pushes her to perfect all of her skills.”

She has participated in art competitions and outdoor art festivals for many years, receiving numerous awards as well as state and local community service awards as well as signature and lifetime membership in the Southern Watercolor Society and Distinquished Signature status in the Florida Watercolor Society

Therese’s artwork can be seen at the Highland Art Studios in Eau Gallie as well as locations through the Brevard Cultural Alliance Art in Public Places. Her paintings are in collections both private and corporate throughout the United States and internationally.