Issue 6 Artist Spotlight | Ruth LaGue
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Ruth!
RL: I am a user experience designer by day. I try and solve meaningful and relevant problems for users while they are using an online product. That’s a long winded way of saying, I’m always analyzing how a process can be simplified, so there’s no barrier for a user to understand what their next best action is. And any other time of the early mornings, evenings and weekends, you will find me in my studio.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
RL: Creating has always been a personal journey for me; in design I work to solve problems, and that had a lot of meaning to me in the beginning, but I found through the years I needed to explore my own voice and took up painting. First in encaustics then acrylics, my subject was abstracted landscapes, and that too had a lot of meaning to me in the beginning. When COVID hit and everything shut down, I began exploring the details within the landscape, animals, barns, houses, etc., and that became a refreshing new challenge for me. I got in touch with my love of simple shapes, and applied color to them.
Lately, that simplification has me concentrating around a central theme — barn as cathedral. Barns hold a presence on the landscape, they are connected to the earth and to us. They serve a function greater than the contents within them — they protect.
C+B: What has your experience been like receiving feedback or criticism of your work?
RL: I enjoy critiques when I feel people get what I’m doing and can steer me to see something in a different way. I’ve had two amazing teachers recently who in different ways have seen my work and been like laser beams to help me not paint everything I see, leaving a bit open for interpretation.
C+B: Which creator (present day or in the past) do you most admire and why? What draws you to their work?
RL: I love Fairfield Porter — I admire his loose energetic style and how he bridged the gap between realism and abstraction. I also love that he painted scenes that were around him.
Find and support Ruth here:
IG: @ruthlague
Website: ruthlaguestudio.com
(Field of Gold, 12’’ x 12’’, acrylic, ©Ruth LaGue)
My ideal creative retreat would be: A small modern cabin with lots of sunlight — someplace I hear (and feed) the birds. A place that has two comfy chairs for my two Havanese dogs (Rikki and Owen) and a short path to my home, so I can touch base with my family.
One word that describes my most recent work is: Simplicity
A quote that inspires me is: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do” by Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a voice for those who didn’t have one and she pushed forward with courage.
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope people will have a renewed sense of their surroundings; expand their partnership with the earth and it’s greatness and maybe on occasion, visit one of the people’s cathedrals, a barn, with new eyes.
