Not all of the art gems we found while in Miami were at the organized fairs, or even at private showings for that matter; Josh and me discovered Ross Ford while walking down the pedestrian shopping plaza on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach during the Saturday lunch hour. I have to admit– I was drawn to the paintings at first because of their size, bright colors, clean (albeit curvaceous) lines, and contrast– they were pleasing to the eyes. Ross’ explanation of his work intrigued Josh and I even more– each painting is a face, pulled from a daily emotional diary of faces from his sketchbook. Ross puts brush to canvas for sketches he finds to be particularly significant. The final product is an organic type of emotional self portrait all his own (in every sense). When you go to the ‘paintings section’ of Ross’ website, click on individual photos within the photo matrix to see enlarged versions; it will also inform you of which ones are available for purchase. Ross Ford’s art was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise sensory overloaded weekend of art fair viewing in Miami. More on Ross after the jump…

This is the painting Josh and I watched Ross work on over the weekend on Lincoln Rd. in Miami Beach– #136 (one of my favorite I might add, and it’s still available for purchase!)…

Below are some of Ross’ face sketches (looks like this page of sketches is from September 21, 2006). Note the different emotions from which he draws inspiration for his paintings…