Thursday, January 19, 2012
Friday, October 28, 2011
New Studio/Gallery Space
|
Slough Side Studios
5720 Gilkey Ave
Edison, WA 98232
Thanks for being a patron of art!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Painting for Fate of the Forest show
 |
| Crucifixion, 63x96" iron and rust on panel. Copyright Ruthie V. |
This is my submission for the Fate of the Forest show opening June 17th at the Whatcom Museum.
The title of this work “Crucifixion” is a double reference; first to the painting “Crucifixion of Saint Peter” by Caravaggio from which I borrowed a couple of the figures, and second to our affecting actions towards that which we love so much. Our local culture still carries a romantic ideal of homesteading the wilderness, so we carve places for our homes out of the trees, and we build things (like this painting) out of wood for the warm substantial beauty of it. I don’t believe our local forests are doomed, but I do think we can work to find a thoughtful and sustainable balance between our love and our sacrifice.
 |
| Crucifixion of St Peter, Caravaggio |
| Exhibition Opening: Evergreen Muse: The Art of Elizabeth Colborne (1885-1948) and Fate of the Forest: An Open Hanging Friday, June 17 6 – 7 PM: Member’s preview reception with Guest Curator, David Martin, who will speak about Evergreen Muse: The Art of Elizabeth Colborne (1885-1948) and selected artists from Fate of the Forest: An Open Hanging sharing insights into their work. Followed by a free public opening from 7 - 9 PM. | |||||||||
| Whatcom Museum, Lightcatcher Building, 250 Flora Street, Bellingham WA | |||||||||
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Balance
Ruthie V. Balance I (Bull Ride), 60x60" iron paint and charcoal on panel
Ruthie V. Balance II, 60x60" teak oil and charcoal on panel
Ruthie V. Balance II, detail
Ruthie V. Balance II, detail
All images copyright Ruthie V. 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friends of Fish at Edison Eye Gallery
Ruthie V, Alms. 9x12" conte and acrylic washes on paper. framed. $145
Friends of Fish
I'll be showing in the Edison Eye's Friends of Fish, an art show benefitting the watershed education programs of the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group. This show will feature more than 80 artists, and is sure to be a lot of fun.Opening night reception April 16, 5-10 pm
Show runs April 16 to May 1
Gallery hours Tuesday - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm
Edison Eye Gallery
5800 Cains Ct., Bow, WA, 98232
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Viewer Comment
Ruthie V's work is direct, bold, and accessible, each piece revealing something true.
-Marc Pierson
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Viewer Comment
"I really enjoyed looking at your piece: "Food Bank Line." It was one of my favorites for the evening. I really enjoyed the movement, and the depth in it. I find it fascinating how something can be portrayed in a way that is inviting to the viewer."
"It is pleasant to look at a piece, and then look at it again, and still find beauty in it."
"It is pleasant to look at a piece, and then look at it again, and still find beauty in it."
Viewer Comment
"I am drawn into your figure drawings in particular, with their simplicity of line and complexity of feeling. Your work is outstanding!"
Greg Stern, MD
Friday, January 7, 2011
FEBRUARY: Showing at Shift Collaborative Gallery in Seattle
Show runs February 4 - 26, 2011
Gallery open Friday & Saturday 12:00-5:00
or by appointment
Shift Collaborative Gallery
306 S Washington Street
Seattle, WA
http://www.shiftstudio.org/
http://www.shiftstudio.org/
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Ruthie V. Selected Works
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Viewer Comment
"Your sense of both color and form are wonderful...."
Kim Coulter
Foster / White Gallery
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Featured in the Cascadia Weekly
Work
Passion versus paycheck
Have you heard the anecdote about the guy who toiled for decades at a mundane job he detested whacking the alarm clock for only to retire, move to a senior community somewhere in Florida and drop dead of a massive coronary within a year of quitting the daily grind? If so, you’re likely well aware that, if you’re not doing something with your life that engages you in at least one meaningful way, an early demise will be even more tragic for everybody involved.
Bellingham artist Ruthie V—who manages to imbue every exhibit she’s involved in with much deeper meaning than what can be seen on the canvases she prolifically produces—has tackled the subject of people and their careers in her latest exhibit, “Work,” which opened earlier this month at Edison’s Smith & Vallee Gallery.
...read more at Cascadia Weekly, October 13, 2010
(shown above: Saint Barista 11x9" ink and metallic acrylic on paper.)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Viewer Comment
"I keep seeing your work all over town, and it looks great! Congratulations on making such an impact in Bellingham."
Cara Jaye
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Viewer Comment
"Ruthie V's ... recent outpouring of work, now on the walls, only verifies what we all can see. Here is an artist of great skill and craftsmanship, who can create works of art that are momentous, with only (what appears to be) a few simple strokes. You know, that "thing" we all try to do. Ruthie, you make me remember the one student in my art classes who always stood out from the rest, miles out, in another universe. I say on to NYC for you!"
Donna Auer
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Viewer Comment
"Besides the obvious very skillful handling of paint, I keep finding the content of your work wildly interesting. I don’t usually focus on that aspect, but with yours, I can almost see where I am in it, but then I cannot. It is a mystery and odd, even when you so kindly give us a title – and that is why it seems to be on some kind of other plane. I love that you take us there."
Donna Auer
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Solo Show: WORK
(All images copyright the artist)
WORK runs 10/2/10 - 10/31/10 at the Smith & Vallee Gallery in Edison Washington.
Share
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Buy a House, Get a Painting! (Lost Painting Found)
A painting from my 2007 solo show "Humanity of Land" at the Smith & Vallee Gallery sold before I got a picture of it. Just today my step mother was house hunting online and spotted my painting! Evidently, the agency believes that good art helps sell a home because this house is wonderfully presented, and my painting "Rain Soaked Harvesters" is proudly hung in the dining room.
Monday, September 6, 2010
The American Landscape
Post Point
20x16" oil on canvas. Framed.
Sehome Neighborhood
24x36" oil and metallic acrylic on canvas. Framed.
The American Landscape is a group show opening September 10th at Loomis Hall Gallery in Blaine Washington
(All images copyright the artist)
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Viewer Comment
"Love your idea behind the exhibit
and how personal and relevant it is. Can't wait to see more."
Sharon Kingston
www.worksoncanvas.com
Friday, July 30, 2010
Show of BIRDS
BIRDS
A group exhibition featuring artwork from over 40 artists... including me.
Opening reception Saturday August 7th 5-8pm
SMITH & VALLEE GALLERY
5742 Gilkey Ave
Edison WA 98232
http://www.smithandvallee.com/gallery/exhibitions/birds
(All images copyright the artist)
(All images copyright the artist)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The Audience
I haven't posted a Daily Painting in a while. I'm still working, but I'm not posting and emailing my work like I was a month ago. Since I started this Daily Painting project January 1, 2010, I've noticed that although the Daily Painting has served as a wonderful platform for me to share my process with you, it has also allowed you, the Audience, into my studio. Whether you know it or not, I think about you while I paint. You talk to me while I'm working, and if allowed to stay too long, you would influence my decisions. This is a killer for many artists' work. Artists struggle to leave the gallery, the dealer, the buyer, and the audience all outside the studio. We love you, we need you, but we can't let you stay in our studios. Creating work with you in the room prevents us from listening to our other voices, the quieter ones. These quiet voices can easily be missed, and when they are the creation of true, bold, original work suffers. Sharing with you is wonderful, and I will do so again, but for now I'm taking a step inward. I'm creating the best work I can for you to see.
Please stay posted. I love you, I need you, and I will invite you to see my work when it is ready. Thank you for your support.
Please stay posted. I love you, I need you, and I will invite you to see my work when it is ready. Thank you for your support.
Upcoming show:
Work
Smith & Vallee Gallery
October 2010
October 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
In the works
Check out this great Cascadia Weekly story about Lisa's and my Painting a Day project, and our upcoming show!
For many, a New Year’s Resolution involves someone giving up something they love—be it booze, television or cupcakes—in order to become a better person. For local artists and friends Lisa McShane and Ruthie V., it was more about adding a challenge to their everyday lives that was designed to bring about change.
Thus was born the Daily Painting Project. With a goal of completing a painting a day for a year using local and regional subjects, the two entered 2010 with the pact intact. Six months in, they’re offering up an exhibit that will showcase what the project has so far wrought.
“We’ll be showing the best of our daily paintings, as well as the larger ones we’ve been working on,” says McShane, who’s been a full-time painter for more than a year now. “The daily paintings really inform the bigger paintings, in a way. Any time you’re thinking about something and doing something every day, it affects everything else that you do.”
Acknowledging that the first days of the challenge were the hardest, both artists have embraced it in different ways. While McShane will often start one painting and finish a different one within the course of each 24 hours, Ruthie V. has found herself using the parameters to try new techniques (painting with fire, sketching extreme facial expressions, etc.), but not spend too much time fretting about the finished product—which she often posts to her website when it’s done.
“The idea of sending things out before they’re edited is really different for me,” Ruthie V. says. “I don’t know if it’s something I’ll continue after the year is over. Anytime you put your work out there with your name on it, you are representing you. It’s been hard—and fun—to keep sending stuff out there and let people see both the ugly parts and the successes.”
Although they don’t create in the same studio—each has a home space to call their own—both artists say doing the project together is kind of like having a running buddy to keep them on task. They regularly call, email or meet with each other to discuss both problems and successes.
“It’s about the discipline of it, McShane says. “Having that discipline and thinking about it, the daily stuff, really makes you drill down into your ideas.”
“My skills have improved immensely since the first of the year,” Ruthie V. adds. “My brushstrokes are more decisive, my images are more interesting and I’m able to make something and move on rather than deliberating until the moment is entirely missed.”
For those who’ve followed both McShane and Ruthie V.’s artistic arcs in Bellingham, “The Daily Painting Project” exhibit will provide a chance to pick up their works for prices that won’t break the bank. Ruthie V.’s unframed, quick studies will be available for around $100, and McShane will also a variety of small, more experimental pieces for sale.
“For me,” Ruthie V. explains, “I decided that it was important to keep my hand moving, keep making things, and offer more work to more people and make my work as accessible as I could.”
Daily Painting Project, 6 Months In
Show opens June 4th
6:00-10:00pm
Works on Canvas Gallery
301 W Holly St
Bellingham WA 98225
Due Diligence
The daily painting project
For many, a New Year’s Resolution involves someone giving up something they love—be it booze, television or cupcakes—in order to become a better person. For local artists and friends Lisa McShane and Ruthie V., it was more about adding a challenge to their everyday lives that was designed to bring about change. Thus was born the Daily Painting Project. With a goal of completing a painting a day for a year using local and regional subjects, the two entered 2010 with the pact intact. Six months in, they’re offering up an exhibit that will showcase what the project has so far wrought.
“We’ll be showing the best of our daily paintings, as well as the larger ones we’ve been working on,” says McShane, who’s been a full-time painter for more than a year now. “The daily paintings really inform the bigger paintings, in a way. Any time you’re thinking about something and doing something every day, it affects everything else that you do.”
Acknowledging that the first days of the challenge were the hardest, both artists have embraced it in different ways. While McShane will often start one painting and finish a different one within the course of each 24 hours, Ruthie V. has found herself using the parameters to try new techniques (painting with fire, sketching extreme facial expressions, etc.), but not spend too much time fretting about the finished product—which she often posts to her website when it’s done.
“The idea of sending things out before they’re edited is really different for me,” Ruthie V. says. “I don’t know if it’s something I’ll continue after the year is over. Anytime you put your work out there with your name on it, you are representing you. It’s been hard—and fun—to keep sending stuff out there and let people see both the ugly parts and the successes.”
Although they don’t create in the same studio—each has a home space to call their own—both artists say doing the project together is kind of like having a running buddy to keep them on task. They regularly call, email or meet with each other to discuss both problems and successes.
“It’s about the discipline of it, McShane says. “Having that discipline and thinking about it, the daily stuff, really makes you drill down into your ideas.”
“My skills have improved immensely since the first of the year,” Ruthie V. adds. “My brushstrokes are more decisive, my images are more interesting and I’m able to make something and move on rather than deliberating until the moment is entirely missed.”
For those who’ve followed both McShane and Ruthie V.’s artistic arcs in Bellingham, “The Daily Painting Project” exhibit will provide a chance to pick up their works for prices that won’t break the bank. Ruthie V.’s unframed, quick studies will be available for around $100, and McShane will also a variety of small, more experimental pieces for sale.
“For me,” Ruthie V. explains, “I decided that it was important to keep my hand moving, keep making things, and offer more work to more people and make my work as accessible as I could.”
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Stretching a Canvas
Seems every time I share an unfinished painting I never go back to finish it. Darn. Some artists can share while they're in the process, some can't. Looks like I'm the type that can only share once the artwork is complete. Unfortunately that means no more sneak peaks at unfinished work. I'll post the paintings when they're fully formed, and then talk about where I was coming from. You might have to wait a while for the next post cause I'm working on some big ones....
Here's a sneak peak without giving anything away:
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Ink on Paper for Black Drop Coffeehouse
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
How do you work?
I am preparing painting surfaces for larger works that have been inspired by my daily studies. These larger works will be for my show in October at the Smith & Vallee Gallery. The show is titled "Work."
Help me express how you feel about work. Please share your thoughts. Specifically, I'm interested in how your body moves through the day. Do you fix things with your hands? Do you walk and carry things? Are you unemployed? Or does your body sit while your mind works on abstractions like management or computer tasks?
Please add your comment below. Tell me how you move through the day. All I need from you is a word or two (ie "sit" or "back's out again" or "feet hurt from standing" or "Excel spreadsheets again. Wish I could build things with my hands.") but I welcome more extensive input if you feel inspired to share.
Preparing the surface
Please add your comment below. Tell me how you move through the day. All I need from you is a word or two (ie "sit" or "back's out again" or "feet hurt from standing" or "Excel spreadsheets again. Wish I could build things with my hands.") but I welcome more extensive input if you feel inspired to share.
Where is the Daily Painting?
Looking for the daily painting? Check out my figure studies. I'm getting ready to do some large works for my show "Work" that will be at the Smith & Vallee Gallery in October. I've been doing a lot of figure studies to help me prepare.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Waterfall
Waterfall
oil on canvas
20x16"
My new studio is mostly set up. Nothing that I thought that was in the right place is in the right place, but that's how it goes. It'll take me months to fuss everything into it's proper working position.
This painting was another small breakthrough. I had a valued visit with my old painting teacher Ed Bereal last weekend. Ed's an art teacher, but better than that, he's an art preacher, and when he gets going there's nothing but "amen" to say to the man. It's a beautiful thing to hear him preach about art. He was preaching at me and I was saying "hallelujah" and all was grand until he started poking me in the sternum and saying it was time I took those skills of mine and applied them to what I really wanted to paint about. Ed said I'm a marathon runner, and I've got to figure out which direction to run. I thought he was talking about subjects, and told him about how I use my work to talk about the food bank line, our local this, and our important that, and he wasn't having any of it. He didn't just mean what I paint, he meant how I paint it. I'm all over the map. It's time to start honing in to the tiny voice inside that tells me what I want to do.
So here I go. Trying to listen to the tiny voice, trying to find not just what I want to paint, but how I want to paint it. I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing (and if I ever do it's a lie), but painting "Waterfall" felt pretty good. It felt like me.
To be continued...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Loft I & II
Loft I
oil on canvas
12x16"
$100
12x16"
$100
This is the loft of an old building that Smith and Vallee Woodworks is turning into a wood shop. The barn is just across the alley from the Smith and Vallee fine art gallery in Edison where I'll be having a show in October. I enjoyed the image so much that I painted it twice. Please forgive the light reflection on the upper left corners. I snapped the photos in imperfect lighting conditions.
If you would like to purchase one of these original studies, please contact me.
Loft II
oil on canvas
12x16"
$100
12x16"
$100
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Building a Studio, day 1, 2, & 3!
Back porch, soon to be a painting studio
I'm excited to announce that I'm building a painting studio on my back porch. I'm lucky to have the support of Bill Sterling to help me get it done properly. Pictured above is a used sliding glass door and 3 large almost new windows that someone decided they just didn't want anymore. With Bill's support and plenty of natural light, I think everything is going to be just fine.
Bill Sterling
Sterling Custom Services
billtubaman@gmail.com
Bill Sterling
Sterling Custom Services
billtubaman@gmail.com
Monday, April 5, 2010
Facial Expressions
Ann Yelling (Smiling)
water color on paper
12x9"
Say "Ahhh"
watercolor on paper
12x9"
Anyone want to make a funny face? I think these expressive portraits are endlessly interesting, and fun! If you'd like to have one made, contact me: ruthie@ruthiev.com
Self Portrait with iPhone
watercolor on paper
12x9"
You could say the trance-like expression on my face is caused by the iPhone that I just can't seem to put down, but really this is the facial expression artists inadvertently make when they are trying to capture their own portrait.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Food Bank Line
While out of town, I thought a lot about my upcoming show that will be at the Smith & Vallee Gallery in October. I've been digging to find the foundation for the next body of work. What is always there but rarely brought to the surface? What do I feel the need to put a voice to?
I found it: Work. The paintings for my show in October will talk about work. I have a lot of ideas that I will explore, but the first to receive my attention is an image I've been developing for several months: the Food Bank Line.
I wanted an abstracted image, so I started with figures and worked to reduce them to the most important and effective elements with just a few brushstrokes. I was looking for how to give the heavy weight, slow movement, and ever advancing demand, while still showing dignity and possibility.
To learn more about our wonderful Bellingham Food Bank, click here.
If you would like to purchase one of these original studies, please contact me at Ruthie@RuthieV.com
I found it: Work. The paintings for my show in October will talk about work. I have a lot of ideas that I will explore, but the first to receive my attention is an image I've been developing for several months: the Food Bank Line.
I wanted an abstracted image, so I started with figures and worked to reduce them to the most important and effective elements with just a few brushstrokes. I was looking for how to give the heavy weight, slow movement, and ever advancing demand, while still showing dignity and possibility.
To learn more about our wonderful Bellingham Food Bank, click here.
If you would like to purchase one of these original studies, please contact me at Ruthie@RuthieV.com
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Gone Paintin'
I've gone to a cabin in the woods to do some painting. I look forward to sharing the work I produce when I return at the beginning of April.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Today's Painting is not a Painting
Loosing the Studio
Daffodil painting on paper, crumpled
scanned object
scanned object
Sometimes my favorite paintings aren't paintings. Last night I learned that I was loosing my studio, and today's stressful uncertainty is not a mood that lends itself to the patient painting of daffodils. I have no choice but to be sincere in my art work, and the emotional content of my stress pushed me to take another leap: today's painting is not a painting. It can't be purchased or shown except to you right here. Paintings that are not paintings do not pay the bills, but I realize more and more that I have no choice but to make them, and it feels right when I do.
Plans
acrylic and pencil on paper
This is a page of my scribbled thoughts around the next show. You might not call it a painting, but it sure looks like one to me.
Monday, March 15, 2010
What is "Mark Making"
Question:
What does "mark making" mean? Two such ordinary words. But you seem to be using the phrase as referring to something quite specific and technical.
Answer:
Mark making is the term I prefer to use for drawing/painting: putting marks on a surface. I prefer to say "mark making" because it is more open for different approaches and attitudes towards the surface. It would be difficult for someone to call a single line on a piece of wood a "drawing" but I might feel it is a very successful piece. Also, calling it "mark making" can be my own reminder that the object I am making a picture of is less important to me than for the marks I use to produce an effective composition or feeling.
What does "mark making" mean? Two such ordinary words. But you seem to be using the phrase as referring to something quite specific and technical.
Mark making is the term I prefer to use for drawing/painting: putting marks on a surface. I prefer to say "mark making" because it is more open for different approaches and attitudes towards the surface. It would be difficult for someone to call a single line on a piece of wood a "drawing" but I might feel it is a very successful piece. Also, calling it "mark making" can be my own reminder that the object I am making a picture of is less important to me than for the marks I use to produce an effective composition or feeling.
Studies; planning the next major body of work
My latest paintings went up at the Blue Horse Gallery March 1st. I rested for a bit, and now I'm planning my next major body of work for an important solo show at the Smith & Vallee Gallery in October. I've been trying some new approaches to mark making and materials, and now it's time to make the next move. Six months is a very short time to produce a solo show, but with the recent landscapes as warm up, and with the ideas forming in my mind, I'm in a good position. Six months seems to be my minimum gestation and production time for a sincere and successful body of work.
The recent landscapes were very small. The work I feel coming is a range of sizes, some very large - perhaps up to 8', and some on screens or panels. The coming works have similar focus in mark making, tactile and unspoiled materials, limited palette, and raw contrasting subtle textures. There is one exception: I'd like to experiment with stained glass. I hope when the paintings are created and exposed to air that not too much of the purity will have been muddled.
The images today are compositional studies for larger potential works. Please contact me if you'd like to own one of these original studies on paper.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Erika's House
Erika's House
12x9"
watercolor on paper
My dear friend Erika Malone is leaving Bellingham. Erika worked to create healthy communities through affordable home ownership. She was the Programs Director at Kulshan Community Land Trust. Without her work, I would not have a house today. Ironically, she sacrificed her own beautiful home here to move to a Seattle condo so that she can further her work on affordable home ownership. I painted this portrait of her beloved home for her to keep.
This is one of those deeply rewarding moments when I feel that my art has a very tangible purpose. Through a simple watercolor, I was able to offer an image which connects to strong, poignant, and complicated emotions. This, I hope, will be there any time Erika needs a little conversation.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Buy a Painting, Support Healthy Communities
Nocturn Rain
6x9"
6x9"
oil on canvas
This painting was from the fabulous rain storm we had in Bellingham, WA about a week ago. I entered the library in clear afternoon weather, picked up three books (Whistler, Motherwell, and Vuillard) and walked out the door to realize the world had completely transformed. The sun had set and the clouds had opened up to release a steady and dramatic downpour. Both the sky and the road were endless deep blue. Through the rain, lights and their reflections on the road looked like fireworks. It was a fabulous scene. Taking inspiration from Whistler, I painted this deep blue evening scene and titled it "Nocturn." This work is on a stretched canvas (not a panel) and has 2 layers of ultramarine/deep cerulean blue oil paint glazes over gold acrylic. This work is unframed, but on stretcher-bars and ready to hang.
Buy a Painting, Support Healthy Communities:
A portion of each sale goes to support Kulshan Community Land Trust. KulshanCLT works to create healthy communities through permanently affordable homeownership. Learn more about KulshanCLT at www.kulshanclt.org.Bidding for this piece ends March 13th.
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