About the Process

I begin by floating oil paints, mixed with bronze powders, on water.  The drops of color spread out on the surface as if magnified under a microscope lens, echoing the cellular forms of nature.  

Then I transfer the floating image to paper, and repeat the process many times, slowly building up translucent layers of color and texture.

These 'floating colors' papers become the underlayers for my figurative drawings, where they suggest the visual correspondences between the human body and the rest of the natural world.

You can watch a film of the floating colors process – an excerpt from the short documentary "Laura Ferguson: Visualizing Inner Space," directed by Peter Barton. You can also watch the whole film here (15 minutes run time), or on Vimeo.com.

Learn more about the artworks  [media, paper, availability, etc.] 

Next: Floating Colors Prints and Drawings

This animation shows a drawing taking shape on 'floating colors' paper. The finished drawing, 'Bronchial tree, gold version,' can be viewed in the Floating Colors Drawings Gallery