John Ferry

Student and faculty work selected for 3x3 Annual

Earlier this year, several students and one of our faculty had work elected to be published in the 3x3 International Illustration Annual No.20 and the online gallery. Honorable Mentions will be listed in the 3x3 Annual and will be included in the online gallery as well. Congratulations everyone! We are so proud of you!

Clarice Bartel, ‘23Swallow Tail Kite, Honorable Mention

Taylor Ingram, ‘24Noir Portrait, Honorable Mention



Simon Angel Pitts, ‘24Man with Arrow, Merit

Olivia Tucker, ‘23Fractions of You in Me, Merit

John Ferry, ProfessorChicago #1

John Ferry, ProfessorUrinal #1

American Illustration 42 Selected and Chosen winners

Just a few days after receiving our copy of American Illustration 41, we found out that we had a few faculty selected to be included in American Illustration 42 as well as a few students and faculty who were chosen to be part of the American Illustration online archive. We are so excited for our students and faculty. Congratulations everyone!!

Assistant Professor Il Sung Na, 2022 • Selected Winner, American Illustration 42

Assistant Professor Il Sung Na, 2022 • Selected Winner, American Illustration 42

Professor David Terrill, 2022 • Selected Winner, American Illustration 42

Callie Catchpole, ‘25 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

Olivia Tucker, ‘23 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

Professor John Ferry, 2022 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

Associate Professor + Chair Maura Cluthe, 2022 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

American Illustration 40!

This spring, four of our full time faculty received word that they had work selected to appear in the American Illustration 40th anniversary book. From over 7,000 entries from 1,342 artists, art directors, publishers, agencies and schools, the jury selected 425 images by a majority vote or better to appear in the book and represent the best illustrations from 2020. The American Illustration 40 winning collection, with 285 of the industry's best illustrators, will be presented in print, online and, with a little luck, in person this November in New York City, where American Illustration-American Photography is based. Congratulations to the following faculty!

Maura Cluthe, Associate Professor/Associate Chair

John Ferry, Professor

Il Sung Na, Assistant Professor (Il Sung Na had 2 pieces selected!)

David Terrill, Associate Professor

Maura Cluthe • Pattern Play 01

Maura CluthePattern Play 01

John Ferry • Detroit 3

John FerryDetroit 3

IlSungNa_MyTree_image4.jpg

Il Sung Na • spread from My Tree

Il Sung Na • spread from My Tree

Il Sung Na • spread from My Tree

David Terrill • Beasts of the Field

David Terrill Beasts of the Field

Fall means....the 4x4s are coming!

Every fall, sophomore students in John Ferry's Color & Space class take on the daunting task of creating a 4x4 foot self-portrait. Each portrait, made up of roughly 2300 individually painted squares, comes together over the course of 8-16 weeks throughout the semester. Students create the portraits using oil; for many of them it's the first time they've created a piece this large and it's the first time they've painted in oil. Here are just a few of the wonderful pieces that are popping up within the studio. It's always fun to see these come together!

Sophomore Claire Harlow working on her 4x4

Sophomore Claire Harlow working on her 4x4

John Ferry's Color & Space class

John Ferry's Color & Space class

Sophomore Megan Henley working on her 4x4

Sophomore Megan Henley working on her 4x4

Sophomore Astrid Blurr with her completed 4x4

Sophomore Astrid Blurr with her completed 4x4

Disintegration: Works by John Ferry

John Ferry, our beloved professor has a new show opening Friday, November 14th. Disintegration will feature 27 pieces, and is at the Lawrence Arts Center at 940 New Hampshire Street in Lawrence, Kansas. John works in oil and typically at a small scale.

Field #4, 5'' x 7''. Oil 

Field #4, 5'' x 7''. Oil 

He paints similar scenes repeatedly, leveraging his technical fluency to invigorate an image of, say, a street in Decatur Illinois, or a distant view of the Manhattan Bridge when it is painted for the dozenth time. His work focuses on the material quality of the paint and the ways that a painting can modulate between an industrial or architectural vista on one hand and a delicately labored object, a record of thousands of strokes, scrapes and layers of oil on the other.

JF: I paint what I know.  All my scenes are from my home-town or other places I've lived and observed daily.  I find it a challenge to paint the same scene multiple times and be able to bring something fresh to it each time.  

Given that so much emphasis in the work is on texture and the objecthood of the painting, the work gains immensely from being seen in person. So go out and see his show (really though.)

JF: I thought I was going to be in the larger gallery so I was afraid that the 27 paintings I'm displaying were still not going to be enough to fill it sufficiently.  When I found out it was in the smaller gallery, I knew the show would look fine. It's always a great learning opportunity to see your work displayed.  And when it's in such a beautiful and well cared for space, it always helps bring a kind of closure to the process.

The small size gives more weight to the detail and character of his paintings, and also adds to the strength of the work's presentation; when I've had the opportunity to see John's work in person, it feels more akin to reading a series of love letters - the work is so small, it demands a real kind of intimacy, a one on one interaction with the piece that is too often forgone in contemporary art. John's work is not trying to dazzle you with gimmicks, nor is it didactic, trying to communicate any heavy handed conceptual idea. His work is honest, rich, and deeply personal.

Decatur #2. 6''x8.5''. Oil

Decatur #2. 6''x8.5''. Oil

JF: I try to put together a solid group of work which is usually inclusive of a theme(s) of work that show well together. I show the strongest work I have at the time.  I adhere to Niles Spencer's philosophy when displaying work.  He said, "I don't let a painting leave my studio until I don't know how to make it any better."

Disintegration will be on exhibit at the Lawrence Arts Center November 14, 2014 - January 3, 2015 with an opening reception on Friday, November 21, 2014 from 5-7 pm and an artist talk on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at 7 pm.  

Post written by Jacob Canyon Robinson