Ruth Housley - Fine Art Artist Landscapes, Florals and Biblical/Figurative

I was born and raised in a small town in eastern West Virginia.  I drew while I was attending grade school but never had an opportunity to study art.   After I graduated from high school I worked until I got married. We have  a daughter and later moved from West Virginia to Fort Worth, Texas where I took some general clerical classes at TCJC Northeast Campus.  We were there a couple of years before we moved to Lincoln, Nebraska.  We then moved to to Tulsa, Oklahoma then we moved to Grants, New Mexico.  While we were living in New Mexico I wanted to study art and attended the University of New Mexico at the Grants branch of the college with instructor Mr. Romero.  I studied basic drawing, painting as well as the different mediums: egg tempera, pastel, watercolors, acrylic, and oil.  I have stayed with the oil medium since this is the most enjoyable for me and because the Old Masters used oil paints.  I am also quite fond of pastels and have worked in them as well.  I continued to pursue art instruction by taking private classes and workshops in Carrollton, Lewisville, and Denton after we moved back to Texas. 

I worked in Office Administration for seventeen plus years but I did take painting classes and workshops to study art and paint on weekends.  I sold some of my artwork at my employment and also sold several of my works through individual sales and art and craft shows.

I studied oil painting with Joyce Lazo and one year with Jo Ellen Galleries both in Lewisville. I studied pastel portrait painting with Colonnie and two years with Michelle Graham both in Carrollton.  I attended an oil painting workshop with Pat Pierce. I also took a workshop with instructor Will Lassen in Denton.  I received instruction from Professional artist, Joseph (Jerry) Yarnell.  I watched his instruction in oil and acrylic on PBS television for many years which was very informative.  I received instruction from Quinten Gregory by studying his tapes and books.  I also learn from studying other artists' work and their techniques and their accomplishments.  

The love I have for nature and capturing its colors and textures on the canvas is a challenge I love to tackle.  I  enjoy doing landscapes to bring nature indoors and to make it a part of my life.  The passion I have for painting is evident in the finished product.  I feel I have succeeded if the viewer is able to connect with my painting and can view it with a pure sense of appreciation, calm, contentment and perhaps a little longing to be part of the scene depicted.  The inspiration I get from the subjects I choose allows me to create beauty, simplicity and serenity in this changing world through my paintings.  The subjects I choose are inspired by nature and to paint what moves me like peaceful, beautiful scenes that are in nature.

I create my art by first doing some thumbnail sketches and decide on a color scheme, time of day, season of the year and which way the sun is shining.   I prefer to do realistic scenes and use a smooth painting technique.  I use linen, cotton and portrait smooth stretched canvases in various sizes and the oil paints I use are Gamblin, Winsor Newton and Grumbacher.

I have always enjoyed color and how one color relates to another on the color wheel.  I love painting landscapes, flowers, still life and seascapes as well as some wildlife.  I am always searching for new inspirations and subjects that are somewhat challenging to paint on canvas.  I enjoy putting on canvas places that I have visited such as Palo Duro Canyon, Big Bend, and Caprock Canyon which are in Texas. I have visited places in West Virigina with my parents and family that I have enjoyed putting on canvas such as Blue Ridge Mountains, Mabry Grist Mill, as well as Natural Bridge in Virginia and Seneca Rocks, Dolly Sods,  and Spruce Knob Lake in West Virginia.  My husband and I have visited Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and I have painted mountain scenes and put deer and elk in the paintings.  I enjoy traveling and seeing this beautiful world as well as painting some of the places I have visited.  The aspect of my artwork is to bring excitement, perhaps a longing to see the place I have painted, as well as the compositon and colors used.    
 
I enjoy being an artist because painting is an all encompassing personal experience as well as a source of communication. Art is painting not just what you see, but what you know and feel about the subject that you are visualizing at the time. My goals are to continue striving to do my best work with each subject that I endeavor to undertake. 

I have done commissioned work, requests for pet portraits and homesteads for friends and relatives. I completed in 2007 a commissioned reproduction of "The Last Supper" for a friend.The size was 36x24 on cotton canvas.  This was the most challenging painting and it was a learning experience but I am glad that I accomplished it.

All of my available works are on my website at RuthHousley.com or, FineArtStudioOnline.com/RuthHousley.  They are listed under Landscapes, Floral, Biblical, Sunsets/Seascapes, Wildlife/Domestic Animals.  I always have a painting that I am working on or finishing.  I also enter my works in juried art shows and competitions from time to time. 

Entered the 2005 Juried Art Show - Learning And Product Expo in Burbank, California.
Entered the 15th Annual Juried Fine Art Competition in Breckenridge, Texas June 2006.  
Entered the American Third Biannual National Juried Art Exhibition August 2006.
Entered the North Light Book Competition  2007
Entered the National Art Competition in Graham, TX,  and 
The American Juried Art Competition in February, 2007. 
Juried in three times for Timothy's Fine Art Copius Collection 2009
Juried in for Art-Exchange 2009 into 2010
Entered the Irving Texas and Neighbors Art Exhibition, 2010
Enter the Richard Schmid Auction 2010

*  Member of Oil Painters Of America , 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006