"I´ve talked to many different art students who are told: ´get used to this. You´re never going to make a living off of this,´ " he commented while taking a break in his large studio/warehouse, which employs 10 people. To emphasize his point that producing quality art can be a commercially viable venture, he pointed to several fellow Canadian artists making a living in San Miguel, including former champion figure skater Toller Cranston, fantasy painter Gary Slipper and Slipper´s wife Annemarie, a successful sculptor.

"(The students) buy into a perpetual myth that there are starving artists."

Ferguson and his wife Nisha hardly starve, although their journey to success hasn´t been easy since the couple graduated from a Toronto art college in the late 1980s. They spent more than a decade creating an enterprise in Toronto before relocating to San Miguel in 2001. The move, they said, has fostered both creativity and been good for business.

The Fergusons´ sculptures are a unique "union between painting and sculpture." Dan Ferguson works with clay, creating life-like sculptures of frogs, zebras and all sorts of whimsical creatures that burst with intricate details and form bases for decorative bowls that are painted by Nisha.

And though sometimes inadvertently classified as pottery, the couple would never refer to their artwork as such.

"We do not use a wheel," Dan explained while breaking from shaping a sheep from modeling clay in his San Miguel de Allende workshop. "We take a more sculptural approach."

The couple´s workshop, DaNisha Sculpture takes ceramic art to a higher level of refinement and creativity and their work has won international acclaim. Their sculptures are sold in galleries across the continent - former U.S. President Bill Clinton picked up a piece after a speaking engagement in Calgary - and are increasingly popular with visitors to San Miguel. Still, their ceramic pieces, however dazzling and unique, aren´t always viewed as fine art.

"(Customers) view it as a craft and not high art so there´s a ceiling on what they´ll pay," Dan said, adding that US$1,900 is usually the top price.

To escape the ceiling, the DaNisha Sculpture now also works in bronze, a material that commands a higher price, but one that also fits with their unconventional approach.

Although their works come in numbered limited editions of 44, each piece is unique and requires intense patience and attention to detail. The process begins with an original model that Dan sculpts from modeling clay. The clay model is then used to create a mold. The molds will have up to 30 pieces in order to produce a more detailed and life-like product. Nisha then laboriously sketches and paints a different design on the bowls, making each of the pieces one-of-a-kind.

"She´s the bottleneck of the business," Dan said laughingly, but he also emphasized that her style isn´t easily duplicated.

"You will get a unique piece every time even though it´s a numbered edition," he added. "You won´t find pieces like ours anywhere in Canada or the U.S."

SAN MIGUEL ADVANTAGES

Or for that matter, San Miguel, where the couple found numerous advantages in running a labor-intensive business. Besides lower labor costs, property costs - which have escalated in the burgeoning expatriate enclave - are much lower than the Toronto warehouse that was the couple´s previous base and that was redeveloped into trendy lofts. DaNisha Sculpture was also able to find a mold maker in nearby Dolores Hidalgo, something Dan said would have been impossible in Canada.

Having a steady stream of artistically-minded tourists passing through the colonial city has also been advantageous.

"Here in San Miguel, it´s known as an artist colony so people want to see artists working," Dan said, adding that 80 percent of DaNisha´s products are exported.

"We´re able to meet people here who get us connections in the U.S."

Running a successful business brings its challenges, though - and not just the endless red tape of running an enterprise in Mexico. The couple previously designed and produced pieces for the Cirque du Soleil - a natural fit since Nisha also heads an amateur circus troupe in San Miguel.

The arrangement, however, failed to work out as the company running the famed circus´ gift shop in Las Vegas wanted less expensive merchandise - something the Fergusons were unable and unwilling to provide.

"They want to go with lower-end, resin-cast stuff from China so our stuff isn´t being sold anymore," Dan explained.

The Fergusons generally concentrate on the high end of the art market and often sell their creations in upscale destinations, or as Dan put it, "The rich tourist market."

Some critics might brand the Fergusons as sellouts, but Dan makes no apologies.

"I don´t think (art students) are exposed to people who are successful in the business," he said.

Perhaps a field trip to his San Miguel studio might be in order.

david.agren@gmail.com