Hi and welcome! So here it is…my first blog post! Bear with me as I explore how best to use this blog as a way of documenting and sharing the processes, thoughts, inspirations and motivations behind my artwork.
So, first things first….a quick introduction.
ABOUT ME
My name is Ruth and I live on the beautiful shores of Strangford Lough in County Down, Northern Ireland. This location is central to my work. This is where I grew up. I have moved away - first to Glasgow and subsequently Cork City. I lived in Belfast on and off in my twenties. I loved all of those experiences. But nowhere gave me the feeling of place, comfort or inspiration that the little piece of Ireland that I grew up in did. So, here I am! Now living with my family of 1 husband, 2 kids and 2 cats in the area that shaped my formative years and continues to do so.
MY ART
Founded in 2017, Ruth Osborne Art grew from experimentation. My job as an educator in the Museums Sector was a creative one where I got to experiment with a range of art forms as part of projects and creative programmes. It was while on maternity leave that I began really focusing on making my own work more consistently and took advantage of exhibition and sales opportunities that really kickstarted everything. The local community of artists, makers and small independent businesses were so important in those early days (and still are) in helping me have belief in my work. Slowly, I set about creating a viable business through my art. Over the past 3 years I have worked to develop the various strands of my business and my creative practice. It's a learning curve!
I'd describe myself as a mixed media artist with the main mediums I work with being printmaking, painting and more recently book making. Irish Linen is normally my fabric of choice to work on (there’s another blog post to come all about that!). Intrinsic to my work is that I always work with nature by using plants, leaves, flowers, shells, seaweed (amongst many things) as part of the mark-making process. And of course the County Down coast, with its diverse landscape of shorelines, rolling drumlins, lush meadows and abundant hedgerows remain a constant source of inspiration.
As well as creating my own work for sale, exhibition and commissions, I lead workshops in the processes that are central to my work. I love delivering workshops and it is one of the areas of my work that I derive the most satisfaction from. Take a look at the Workshops section of my website to find out more.
THE END
I'm sure that's enough to give a little insight into my work. So ’ll make my first blog a relatively short one! Thanks for reading!