Working in the landscape, drawing in charcoal or graphite and painting in oils on site, allows a spontaneous and honest approach with direct observation and space for intuition to flow. Sharpening the relationship between hand and eye, work is done for the pleasure of being in the moment, totally engaged with the task in hand. The image may approximate to the intention at the outset or reveal an unforeseen aspect in the relationship of elements in the scene, sparking a plan for a studio painting. The subject is often not pre-planned, but come upon while walking, biking, or driving if too distant from Ruth's home near Appleby.
Ruth avoids the picturesque and engages with working or worked landscapes, particularly in the Pennines: wall lines enclose land under the open fell, quarries scar the hill, water channelled for forgotten purpose at the old mine, floods transform the familiar scene, storm blown trees bend sideways, the fields a vivid monochrome green. This is a damaged and poignant beauty: silence has overtaken the noise of industry, witness to our transitory lives. Peatlands and rivers, peewits and curlews: within its beauty, this landscape cautions for the future. Ruth hopes her art will reflect this.
CONTACT RUTH
info@ruth-wharton.co.uk
