Ruth has been painting since
childhood she has an Honors
Diploma in Art and Creativity. She was awarded a
full scholarship to finish her final year. She has attended numerous night classes and
workshops over the years in Hawkes Bay, Scotland, Wellington and Tauranga.
Ruth is a member of the Artist Alliance, Tauranga Art Society and the
New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.
"As the years pass, I find myself taking
a lot longer just thinking about a work, before I even lay down a
brush stroke, what I call the unconscious simmering and incubation
period. I then work out what colour palette to use, which techniques,
composition etc. The actual painting process in usually quite
straight forward once this gestation period is over. I am trying
to use less brushstrokes with each work, but making them more effective
in terms of the right hue, value, chroma and shape. Hopefully
ending up with a work full of fresh, juicy painterly licks! I
describe my work as 'classic with a twist'. I want to be known for thought provoking works with a sound technique
ability, that last the distance, rather then the latest fashion in painting.
I think people often get confused between novelty and creativitiy. But in saying that I
am always on the lookout for new techniques and products."
“
I hope that my work will provoke thought and emotion, and somehow
connect with the viewer. My work reflects my own personal view of
universal subject matter, with which I hope to draw the viewer
into my own private world. My technique has evolved over the
years; I love the excitement of colour and the spontaneity of abstraction. However, for me,
this is not enough to be able to communicate my stories, therefore I use
elements of abstraction, with rich colour and dramatic layers of
texture, thus creating a complex background. I then use more
representational
elements to create my narrative, building images with bold use of light
and shadow to create form; with use of line, mark making, and negative
shapes, interest is added to my work.”
Born in New Zealand to British parents, she
lives in Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
Working
as a professional artist her work can usually be found in the following
Galleries:
Harrisons
of Whangamata, Whangamata
4Art
Sake, Ohope
Artenz, Taupo
The Wine
country gallery, Havelock North - Hawkes Bay
Thornton
Gallery, Hamilton
The
Art Boutique, Tauranga.
Bio:
Selected for the Molly Morpeth
Canaday Art Awards 2009
Finalist in the Katikati National
Mural Competition 2008
Work published in the Artfind 2007
Desk Calender
Exhibitions:
2009
'Celebration 2 Exhibition 2009' at Creative Tauranga -
23 locally celebrated artists
The Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Awards
Exhibition, Whakatane
2008
The Garden & Artfest Tauranga
The Original
Art Show in Auckland
The Affordable New Zealand Art show in Wellington
St Andrew's Anglican Church, 22-24 August,
Epsom, Auckland
Bethlehem College exhibition on
29th - 31st August
2007
The Original Art Sale - Auckland
Bethlehem College Art Exhibition -
Tauranga
The New Zealand Affordable Art Show
- Wellington
National Women's Art Exhibition, 1-8
June 2007, Lindauer Cellars Gisborne
2006
NZ Academy of Fine
Arts spring exhibition November (Wellington)
Oct - Awareness exhibition -
featuring 5 Bay of Plenty Artists - Shelley Rich, Hayley Brown, Louise
Prastiti, Bryce Brown, Ruth Vickers - at Bay Nissian
The New Zealand Affordable Art Show
- August (Wellington)
Bethlehem College exhibition -
August
Solo Exhibition - 'Evidence of
Inhabitation' - The Art Boutique, April
2005
The New Zealand Affordable Art Show
- August
End of Term 3 Exhibition at 'The
Learning Connexion' (Wellington)
End of Term 1 Exhibition at 'The
Learning Connexion'
2004
Garden & Art Fest - November
End of Term 4 Exhibition at 'The
Learning Connexion'
End of Term 2 Exhibition at 'The
Learning Connexion'
2003
End of Term 4 Exhibition at 'The
Learning Connexion'
Mid year exhibition 'Tauranga Art
Society'
1992 - 2003
Work produced and printed for the
'Hastings Club'
Various works sold in 'Gallery 246'
Hastings
Work produced for the Herald Tribune
(fashion drawings)