Ronald Ferguson, the Grits Man in front of one of his creations When artist Ronald Ferguson feels the urge to create a new work he doesn't turn to his easel, he takes a trip to the grocery store. From egg shells to carrots, Ferguson, aka the Grits Man, is known for using organic materials to make art.

"It all started when my daughter burned a pan of grits," Ferguson said. "I didn't want to waste them, so I tried to find a way to use them."

His first organic medium, grits has given way to a whole list of unlikely art supplies like potatoes, rice, okra, wheat, and peanut hulls. Ferguson will have his organic art and other paintings on display from 1- 5 pm Saturday at Bluff Road Park.

His Columbia home also serves as studio where large, colorful paintings lean against walls in the living room, and the kitchen table is covered in boxes of egg shells, bottles of glue, and acrylic paint. His process is simple and varies slightly with the organic material.

For example, when working with carrots, he first places them in a juicer then takes the pulp, dehydrates it, and grinds it up. He then mixes it with glue and paint and creates whimsical masks and sculptures.

Creation by Ronald Ferguson made of okra "I thought if I can do this with grits, why can't I do it with other organic material?" Ferguson said of his process.

The artist claims to use 10 different organic substances to create art and plans to add a new one each year. Next year he is going to give banana peels a try.

In addition to experi- menting with masks and sculptures, Ferguson has also developed a new perspective for painting, which he calls Hipp Art, a variation on street art or graffiti. Most of his Hipp Art works incorporate writing, but the letters have morphed so that it is nearly impossible to read the message without help from Ferguson, who often has to write the saying on the back of the piece to remind himself. His first painting in the Hipp Art style was a brightly colored Picassoesque picture that said "Family Love."

"I look at each letter, and I wait for it to show me a shape," he said. "There are an infinite amount of shapes a single letter can take."

One of his more unique paintings depicts President Barack Obama clad in a space suit. If an observer searches hard enough he can find the letters in the president's last name spelled out across his mint green suit.

Community outreach is also a part of Ferguson's artistic vision. He offers free art lessons for neighborhood children Monday and Wednesday afternoons at Bluff Road Park.

"I came back to my old neighborhood and saw all the violence," he said. "I want to do something about this. Give the kids who don't play sports something to do. I think 'what can we do as artists to turn this thing around'?"

Bluff Road Park is located at 148 Carswell Drive.