Thursday 29 October 2015

Meet the Artist - Ruth Brown

Name: Ruth Brown

Nickname: Struth, Ruthie and Dorey (due to my lack of memory!)

Occupation: Artist

About you: 
I am a very proud Mum of my 3 wonderful grown up children. I have a fabulous husband called Dave and the most ugly cute dog called Sweep.
I am a true enthusiast for V.W beetles and camper vans, as you will see in some of my work. This was triggered after watching the film Herbie. I like to think that my Beetle has a mind of his own.
I absolutely love painting and have begun to spend a lot of my time advancing with my art work. I also like to keep fit and enjoy precious time spent with family and friends.
I am a Christian and since I began my art classes I have really looked at Gods amazing creation. To attempt to capture any part of it in a painting is both a privilege and daunting. 
I love walking my dog and Dave and I often take him on longer walks at weekends, when we can. Sweep is my most constant companion and very precious as I am often at home alone now that the children have grown up and Dave works away from home a lot. You may see sweep in some of my paintings.
My favourite times are when all the family are together and we play crazy games, chat, watch films and there's usually a few tricks played on people!

I am a fun loving, far too open, caring love bug and enjoy a party. I also love the sun and regularly get my batteries charged by going to our beloved North Cyprus, with friends and/or family. The sun and bright skies renew my energy and I do love a tan.

Funniest Moment:
My life is full of funny things, often involving my children who are now all grown up and married.
I have a problem remembering things as I have M.S. It is frustrating but sometimes useful. I am going to tell you my most recent ridiculous performance. I was on holiday with my husband, which is very relaxing, each night we were lucky enough to go out for a meal. On one particular night, as I walked to our first floor apartment, I noticed that the lady who lives beneath us had changed the things she had by her door. Then as I passed her balcony, I saw a lot of people were gathered there. This was strange as she doesn't really have people gather at hers. I started to go up the stairs, when I realised the steps were yellow and ours are blue… I then realised that my lovely husband had parked in a different place to usual without me realising. When I got into our apartment I asked Dave why he didn't say anything, he just said "I wanted to know how far you'd go before you realised”.

Scariest Moment:
One of my scariest moments was when the children were young and we were holidaying in North Wales. On one day we decided we would go to visit a castle. There was lots of excitement as we climbed up one of the towers. Luke, aged 4, was leading the way as we twisted round the spiral staircase. Suddenly light appeared and Dave, fortunately, grabbed Luke as he almost walked straight off the top of the tower! In those good old days, health and safety wasn't what it is today. We have been since, and there are safety barriers everywhere.

Favourite Artist:
I have always liked Monet and wanted to be learn how to water colour paint, so that I could attempt something similar to his work. I soon discovered that I am far too much of a control freak for water colour.
I also like some of Van Gogh and Picasso's work.
I was inspired by Susan Entwistle after seeing some of her work displayed in a garden centre. Her work is all done in pointillism, which is a style I have used in some of my work. I found this was an easier way of finding what works for me and gave me the confidence to then attempt more complex work such as animals and figures. For some reason, I found it easier to paint in dots, than painting brush stokes. Mind you, this is when the tremor that comes with M.S. helps!

How did you get into art?:
I enjoyed art at school but hadn’t really done anything since then, other than with children through my family and work.
I became unwell 10 years ago and had to stop working. I began to rekindle my love of sewing and knitting.
Becky Newell (artist and director of Origin Arts) is a very dear friend and talked to me frequently about the benefits of painting. I eventually gave in and, with her positive encouragement, sometimes blunt in a way that only friends can, I began to love it!

It is beneficial to me to spend some time being still, which is something I am not at all good at. When I sit down with my paints and go into my imagination time just disappears.
I often embellish my art, partly because I think it adds a different dimension to my work, but also because I often have tremors in my hands which makes painting details difficult. The embellishments are a way of adding detail without quite as much precision required.
I have a lovely studio in our garden built by Dave, which even has electricity and a wine fridge! It's a lovely, peaceful place to be and hours slip away when I'm in there.











        


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