Brenda L. Ferro, Fine Artist

Artist Statement:

Having grown up in a rural area, I developed an appreciation for nature and animals which have long been my favorite subjects. My work includes landscapes, wildlife and still life pieces done in a traditional realist style primarily in pastel and acrylic. I also work in colored pencil or graphite on occasion and have been privileged to win awards in all of these mediums. It is my hope that those that view my landscape and wildlife paintings and drawings share, in some small way, the feeling of peace and wonder at nature’s diversity that I experience first hand. With my still life pieces I hope to share that sense of family history or mementos of past experiences.

Biography:

A resident of Mason, NH, formerly of New Boston, NH for a number of years, the artist was born and raised in the small northern New York town of Waddington near the Canadian border on the St. Lawrence River and enjoyed drawing from a very early age. Growing up in a rural setting, she developed an appreciation for nature and animals which continue to be among her favorite subjects.

Her art education, although primarily self taught (lots of repetition, trial and error!), was liberally seasoned with the occasional art class. These classes provided the basics of drawing which provided a solid foundation to pursue other mediums. She credits her high school art teacher, Mrs. Hildreth, with greatly enhancing her abilities through the “drawing on the right side of the brain” method. She also took advanced drawing courses during college at the Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute in Utica, New York where she studied figure drawing, still life and more abstract drawing styles. In more recent years she has taken pastel painting courses at E.W. Poore’s from Linda Obremski and Sue Zylak and acrylics from Kim Roth. She has been showing and selling her art work since 2001.

She has been a member of the Pastel Society of New Hampshire, Keyes Art Group, Nashua Area Artist’s Association and the Manchester Artist’s Association. She served on the Pastel Society’s Exhibition Committee and is a former board member of the Manchester Artist’s Association having served on the club newsletter and as club librarian. She regularly attends the Milford Coffee & Critique sessions hosted by William Turner. She has participated in several of the local outdoor art shows and has been privileged to win awards on several occasions. She has exhibited in local and regional juried shows, several group art exhibits and the occasional solo show at local galleries in the area in addition to rotating exhibits at The (former) Frame Depot in Milford, NH, Maison de L'Art, Nashua, NH, Creative Ventures, Milford, NH and Becky’s Frame Studio in Bedford, NH. She participated in the MAA Artist of the Month competition winning several times. She offered basic drawing classes at the former New Boston Center for the Arts in 2005 and continues to offer private lessons upon request.