Collector's Showcase at the Workhouse

Watch for more soon on this year's Collector's Showcase 2014 at the Workhouse. The exhibit is on display upstairs in Building W-16 in the McGuire-Woods Gallery from January 11 through the lottery-style auction and fundraiser on March 1.

My donation is "Baltimore Farmer's Market," a metallic ink photograph framed to 16"x20" - look for it to add to your collection.

Arts Club of Washington in February

"Safe Passage" 
Photograph on Canvas 
34"x22"

In her February 2014 "Safe Passage" exhibition at the Arts Club of Washington, Bonnie Ferguson Butler employs metallic ink photographs, photos on canvas, and pastels to explore various means of transportation, transition, and movement in Italy, both the figurative and the literal. Images vary from the tiny boat and mysterious alley in the photo entitled "Safe Passage," to the unseen breeze and religious connotation in the pastel, "Vatican Illuminated."

Some of these images of Northern, Central, and Southern Italy will demonstrate double entrendre like these, but the primary focus relates to an implied sense of movement - windows, doors, water taxis, laundry in the sunny wind, and scooters - which is caught before, during or after the action.  

February 2 - March 2, 2014
Opening February 7, 6-9 PM

Arts Club of Washington
Monroe House
2017 I St NW
Washington, DC 20006

Like each of her previous exhibits, this series demonstrates Butler's love of travel and curiosity about how locations influence art. A Missouri native raised in South Carolina who resides in Northern Virginia, Butler joined the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia, in 2009 and enjoys regular exhibits in Gallery 902. A published biochemist, her art training began as an awakening during a required liberal arts class outside her science majors at Wofford College; her graduate studies were in Humanities and Art History at the University of Richmond. She has pursued many studio classes and workshops since, studying most recently with Liz Haywood-Sullivan, Jack Pardue, and Maggie Price. Butler is founder and president of the Pastel Society of Virginia and a member of Pastel Society of America. Her blog is available at bfbutler.blogspot.com.

Virginia Sunset

Virginia Sunset
soft pastel on black Canson
8x10

Muted Sunset

 

Muted Sunset
soft pastel on black paper
12x16

Black Friday at the Workhouse

See me demo in Building W-16 from 11-2!

Please click for larger version and details.

Black Friday

Black Friday is the biggest day of the year at the Workhouse. I will be demoing pastels from 11AM to 2PM in Building W-16 near my "At the Farmer's Market" exhibit, which has both photography and pastels.

Come out and say "hello" as I work on sunsets, large and small. I just completed a Liz Haywood-Sullivan workshop with the Pastel Society of Virginia and am ripe with new subject matter and mad skillz!

Hold Out At the Farmer's Market

"At the Farmer's Market" is my exhibit at the Workhouse Arts Center in the Building W-16 Gallery which runs from November 6 through December 1.

In addition to photography of five farmer's markets, it will feature my own booth, which will have pastel paintings of local sights, such as Hold Out, a deciduous tree well behind the colors of other foliage painted en plein air in the Appalachian Mountains in Woodstock, Virginia..

Hold Out

soft pastel on mounted Wallis Belgian Mist

8x10

On Second Saturday, November 9, 6-9PM, expect a great spread of farmer's market fare and plenty of Mason jars! 

See many more images here: http://tinyurl.com/ButlerFarmersMarket

Vision in Blue At the Farmer's Market

"At the Farmer's Market" is my exhibit at the Workhouse Arts Center in the Building W-16 Gallery which runs from November 6 through December 1.

In addition to photography of five farmer's markets, it will feature my own booth, which will have pastel paintings of local sights, such as Vision in Blue, painted en plein air in the Appalachian Mountains in Edinburg, Virginia..

Vision in Blue

soft pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist

16x12

On Second Saturday, November 9, 6-9PM, expect a great spread of farmer's market fare and plenty of Mason jars! 

See many more images here: http://tinyurl.com/ButlerFarmersMarket

At the Farmer's Market

"At the Farmer's Market" is my exhibit at the Workhouse Arts Center in the Building W-16 Gallery which runs from November 6 through December 1.

In addition to photography of five farmer's markets, it will feature my own booth, which will have pastel paintings of local sights, such as Great Falls.

Great Falls Toward Riverbend

On Second Saturday, November 9, 6-9PM, expect a great spread of farmer's market fare and plenty of Mason jars! 

See many more images here: http://tinyurl.com/ButlerFarmersMarket

"At the Farmer's Market" at the Workhouse Nov 6-Dec1!

At the Farmer's Market

November 6 - December 1, 2013

Workhouse Arts Center, Building W-16 Gallery, 9601 Ox Road, Lorton, Virginia 22079

Gallery hours: Wed – Sat 11am – 6pm and Sun 12 – 5pm

Free Reception: Saturday, November 9 6-9pm  

Metallic ink photographs and photo canvases tell the yearlong story of artist and photographer, Bonnie Ferguson Butler, as she visited five farmer's markets in three states: New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. In addition to images of food and farmers, the photographs offer glimpses into the effects of multiculturalism, seasons and regional personalities. For her own booth, soft pastel paintings and miniatures become Butler's own vendor space at her farmer's market.

Like her previous exhibits, this series demonstrates Butler's love of travel and curiosity about how locations influence art. A Missouri native raised in South Carolina, Butler joined the Workhouse in 2009 and enjoys regular exhibits in Gallery 902, while she is November's featured artist in Building W-16. A published biochemist, her art training began with a required liberal arts class outside her science majors; she has pursued classes and workshops since. She is founder and president of the Pastel Society of Virginia.

Quotes:

Attributed to Daniel Webster, Statesman:

"Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization."

Attributed to Bonnie Ferguson Butler, Workhouse Featured Artist:

"Much like farmers, artists are people of the earth, cultivating meager elements into sumptuous results."

Bonnie Ferguson Butler Website: http://artists.workhousearts.org/bonniefergusonbutler

Bonnie Ferguson Butler Blog: http://bfbutler.blogspot.com

Citation: Bonnie Ferguson Butler, Muted Sunshine, 2013, photograph on canvas, 24x34       

See many more images here: http://tinyurl.com/ButlerFarmersMarket