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IMAGE COURTESY OF AMERICAN ART COMPANY

MOUNTAIN SCENE. “Going To Glacier” is one of the new paintings by Michael Ferguson on exhibit at American Art Company in downtown Tacoma.

Northwest natural beauty celebrated in exhibit

By John Larson

Seattle-area artist Michael Ferguson continues to find inspiration in the great outdoors in the Pacific Northwest as evident in his new exhibit, “Here And There,” currently on display at American Art Company.

The works are split between oil and acrylic paintings. The oils are painted on location, while Ferguson creates the acrylic paintings in his studio.

The viewer gets some insight into the creative process by viewing two similar paintings. “Seahurst Logs II,” an oil painting, was the basis for “Logs,” an acrylic painting.

Many of the scenes Ferguson paints are already breathtaking in their beauty. He has a unique skill at adding colors, both muted and bright, in places where they do not exist in nature. An example is the rocks in “Logs,” which have hues of blue, green, yellow and orange.

“Going To Glacier” shows a lake in the mountains as the sun is setting. The sunset is depicted in the brilliant orange in the water. The trees in the mountains are alive with hues of green and pink.

The tinges of pink in “From The Middle” are a nice touch.

In most of the works, Ferguson shows some restraint in his use of color. “Upper Napeequa River” shows him going a bit overboard. So many brushstrokes of so many different colors makes it hard to determine where the river ends and the hills begin.

He often uses heavy brush strokes on the oil paintings, as seen in “Cedar River,” “Chuckanut I” and “Chuckanut II.”

Most scenes are mountain country. One exception is “Ford Air View,” which appears to be the Palouse, an agricultural area of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. “Ocean’s Bluff” is apparently a scene from the Washington coast.

“Here And There” will be on display through July 12 at American Art Company, located at 1126 Broadway. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

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