Ruth Halpern

I’ve been drawing, painting, and inventing stories since I was a child. Watercolor combines everything I love: the atmospheric fluidity of clouds and water; improvisation in the moment; explosive beauty; and contemplative grace. It’s a challenging medium that never ceases to surprise me. The brush creates a record of my eyes tracing the subject, mostly botanicals and landscapes. I lose myself in looking, while recording what I see. I hope to give viewers that same meditative experience.

I often work with a limited palette of only six colors—a warm and a cool blue, red and yellow—and blend the colors directly on the paper. That’s what creates the vibrant “psychedelic” luminosity of the colors.

I paint from life, from photos, from my imagination. I also accept commissions to paint people, pets, and poetry.

I’m honored to be a member of the Ashland Art Works collective, a generous group of artists dedicated to exploring and expanding their creative voices in media of all kinds.