Artist Feature: Paul Ferney
January 10, 2012
While enjoying a lazy morning online this weekend, I happened to see a Facebook link from Oh Happy Day directing me to the stunning paintings of Paul Ferney, where I soon lost all track of time. Paul and his wife Jordan, along with their two young children, live in San Francisco but are currently spending a year abroad in Paris. Thankfully, Jordan documents much of their daily life and adventures on her blog, Oh Happy Day, and I’ve been happily living vicariously through them!
I have seen several of Paul’s Little Paris Paintings in the past and love the vibrant colours of his bistro, storefront and city scenes. For those of us not lucky enough to see these views when we walk out our front door, he does have a number of beautiful Parisian paintings available for purchase, here.
Little Paris Paintings by Paul Ferney
But somehow, I had never seen the rest of his portfolio until this weekend and it is truly breathtaking. My mom is originally from California and, growing up, we often made the drive down from British Columbia to go visit extended family. Our favourite route was Highway 101, along the coastline of Oregon and California and Paul’s work really triggered some of those scenic memories for me. Both of my aunts live just outside of San Francisco, in Sonoma County, and I’ve been lucky enough to drive through similar landscapes to what Paul has captured in his oil paintings…
Paul and Jordan also collaborated together on a really fun series of 50 small paintings, titled “Let Them Eat Cake“. It sounds like my kind of art project…baking and painting! Understandably, all 50 paintings sold out at a San Francisco show held at Paul’s studio. I wonder if they ever got tired of eating cake while working on these delicious looking pieces…
“Let Them Eat Cake” Series by Paul Ferney
I found it really hard to narrow down the paintings to include into this post and if I had to choose favourites, I think Paul Ferney’s coastlines would be at the top of my list. There’s something about the West Coast, isn’t there? The ocean just calls my name! One of my biggest dreams is to live by the Sea one day…how about you?
Well, I hope you enjoyed perusing Paul’s artwork as much as I did! Be sure to visit his website and blog to see even more stunning paintings and to take a read through his biography. I love how he describes his approach to painting, “I like the way paint feels, the look of paint. If I’m painting a tree, I’m not trying to make the painting look like a tree; I want it to look like paint?to never forget that it is paint.”
Have a great Tuesday!
