Ruth was trained at Manchester College of Art and Design in Illustration/Graphic Design. Although she has followed an alternative career, Ruth has always been involved in art of some kind including various commissions including book illustrations, design work, murals and house portraits. She has also enjoyed other creative pursuits such as sculpture, jewelery and pottery. Since moving to Malvern Ruth has concentrated more on painting.

Ruth's work is quite varied - she is still experimenting, it all depends on what intrigues her at the time. Sometimes it is the effects of light, whether subtle, contrasting or back lit for example; sometimes it is the challenge of attempting complicated and intricate detail; sometimes cutting loose with swathes of colour; sometimes the arrangement and intersection of shapes - and sometimes many of these in the same painting.

In this exhibition, Ruth has produced much larger work than usual and has eliminated a lot of detail, concentrating more on the essence of the subject. The paintings have a common theme - they are based on horizontal lines, except one which is vertical. Some are seascapes, some are mini versions of the abstract impressionist Rothko, who was one of the "colour field" artistsof the last century, and two are aspects of Ruth's favourite aspect of the Malvern Hills: the long panorama as seen from the East.

The seascapes are purely sea and sky with little of no detail to interfere with the overall impression and large enough to give the impression of being there.

Rothko's aim was to produce huge horizontal expanses of pure colour, blurred at the edges so that the paint had a shimmering or glowing effec tlooking for an emotional and involved response from the viewer. Ruth says that it was enjoyable "to see how he did it", attempting to imitate his technique and revelling in the handling of pure colour. Ruths paintings are however tiny compared to Rothko's giant works so the impact is considerably less, but it is still interesting to contemplate the interaction of subtly varied colours and as she says, is slightly better than a mere poster from Tate Modern.

Click on an image so see a larger view of the painting.

Where a price is shown the painting is still available for purchase. If you are interested in purchasing, please call the Malvern Hills Gallery on 01684-566872 or via email.

Painting	Description	Dimensions	Medium	Price
	Seascape - Mist	61cm x 118cm	Acrylics on board	£380
	Turquoise Landscape	61cm x 51cm	Acrylics on canvas	£240
	Mini-Rothko 1	72cm x 72cm	Acrylics on board	£275
	Mini-Rothko 2	58cm x 85cm	Acrylics on board	£275
	Mini-Rothko 3	61cm x 79cm	Acrylics on board	SOLD
	Seascape - Sunset	61cm x 88cm	Acrylics on board	£320
	Seascape at Ventnor	61cm x 100cm	Acrylics on board	£330
	East Coast, Scotland	19cm x 49cm	Acrylics on canvas	£90
	Malvern Hills - Night	49cm x 39cm	Acrylics on canvas	£190
	Malvern Hills from Old Hills	61cm x 42cm	Acrylics on board	£220