Rotorua faces explored in The Bushman's Son's latest exhibition

Terry Fergusson's new art exhibition is on display in the Rotorua Lakes Council. Photo/Stephen Parker

There's a lot in a face - especially for artist Terry Fergusson when he's holding his paint brush and is full of inspiration.

The talented Rotorua artist, known on canvas as The Bushman's Son, has been at it again - this time creating portraits of local faces.

His latest exhibition, titled ..be, officially opens on Friday and will be shown at the Rotorua Lakes Council Galleria until it is moved to the Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art in Wellington in August.

Holding Back The Years - a portrait of Terry Fergusson's 93-year-old aunt, which features in his latest exhibition ..be. Photo/supplied https://www.luxembourgartprize.com/en/

"In this body of work, I wanted to look deeper into different personalities and individuals and what creates their emotional responses."

Following on from his previous exhibition, RAW, in 2016 which sold out, Fergusson said this exhibition went deeper and peeled back on what it meant to "..be".

He said the faces in the exhibition were locals, people from his past, people he worked with, family members and the odd icon.

"It covers all emotional responses and the way we react to them. Faces can't lie. These pieces will mean different things to different individuals."

He said the interest in the artwork had been "huge" so far due to its local flavour. He said six pieces had already been requested to be sent to Wellington early and some had already sold, but those pieces would still be shown in the exhibition.

The Wellington exhibition of ..be opens on August 23.

Still Mine - a portrait of Terry Fergusson's parents. Photo/supplied

Meanwhile, Fergusson's artistic fund, managed through the Geyser Community Foundation, was still going well.

The Bushman's Son Fund was set up last year when Fergusson donated all proceeds from his exhibition Taonga - Gifts from History - to support emerging artists living or having family links in the Rotorua district who needed money to study or further their artistic careers.

The fund welcomes donations, bequests and endowments of all sizes, he said.