Artist
Dick Ferrer
~ by Lee Edgren
Brown County painter Dick Ferrer is, at 67, filled with a reverence for life that is as much a part of his canvases as the paint itself. He has won many awards and has sold work in recent shows of the Indiana Heritage Arts Annual Exhibition, Hoosier Salon, and the Indiana Plein Air Painting Association. He has never taken an art lesson or drawing class— at least in the formal sense. Instead, he calls himself a beneficiary of the work of fellow artists who share unselfishly.“ Somehow,” he says with straightfaced humor,“ my work doesn’ t look like their work, though.”
Drawing comes easily. Ferrer has a natural ability to understand and draw perspective, which he attributes to nothing more than“ good hand-eye coordination. I drew all the time as a little kid. The first thing I drew was a horse.”
Even today, his subject matter tends to be either the natural world or a man-made world that is fading away.
He paints prolifically. Animals, cars, landscapes, old tractors, and iron bridges seem to be his native language. Although what he paints is part of our daily life, he finds a perspective that makes it
Dick Ferrer painting at Ferrer Gallery. photo by Cindy Steele
noteworthy. Anything is fair game, as long as it has unique qualities, drama— a story to tell.“ I don’ t like cityscapes and buildings that much. I like the freedom of painting the natural world.”
During the Vietnam War, from 1967 to 1971, he served in the Air Force. For most of that time he was a surgery technician in the Philippines, For eight years after leaving the service, Ferrer went to school full time and worked full time. He majored in political science and minored in anthropology and history.
16 Our Brown County • Jan./ Feb. 2015