Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruth Soller.
Ruth, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been an artist most of my life and began as a child in summer art camp. We practiced many media including colored pencil, pen and ink, tempera, watercolor, and oil painting. My love of art deepened as I visited art museums in the USA and Europe. I’ve experienced world class museums in London, Paris, Florence, Rome, Salzburg, Vienna, Prague, Athens, and Amsterdam. In the USA I’ve visited art museums in New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Denver, and more. I studied portraiture with the late Daniel E. Greene and with Johanna Harmon. I learned landscape painting in plein air workshops with Jane Hunt, Marc Hanson, and John Taft. My art business has evolved over the past 40 years. During the 1990’s I sold commissioned watercolor home portraits in Alabama. During the 2000’s I exhibited across Colorado. In 2010 I began creating oil paintings of National Parks which were accepted in many juried museum and gallery shows including Salmagundi Club New York, Butler Institute of American Art, CM Russell Museum and Auction, Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, and Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In 2020 the National Center for Atmospheric Research invited me to present a solo show in April-May. Voyage Denver Magazine featured me in “Inspiring Stories”. Osmosis Art Gallery invited me as feature artist for August-September. Art of the West announced “This Land is Our Land Features Ruth Soller” with color photo. COVID-19 cancelled these shows. It has been a serious mental and physical challenge for me to persevere.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My creative life has taken new directions in the last two years. On Valentine’s Day 2023 I received an invitation to partner with Art Brand Studios / Wild Wings to represent my work for licensing and to print, publish, and promote my art as reproductions through their catalogs, online, and in physical venues such as retail galleries and trade shows. I decided to venture into self-publishing. My first book National Parks & Beyond contains 50 of my National Parks and Western landscapes paintings along with stories about each painting. This book documents the development of my National Parks series from 2010 to 2023 and is mentioned in Art of the West May-June 2024 on page 88. My book is available on my website.
I have edited and printed samples of a children’s book that I wrote and illustrated in the 1990’s. Backyard Habitat is a realistic fiction early reader book for ages 4-8, grades Pre-K to 3rd. This is my first children’s book with stories about my young sons’ adventures in nature with wildlife in a southern town. This book includes twelve full page watercolor illustrations and is dedicated to my two grandchildren.
I have two feature artist shows scheduled this year. In August 2024 Artcentric in Wheat Ridge, CO, will feature six of my large National Parks paintings. In October – December 2024 Osmosis Art Gallery in Niwot, CO, will feature ”Wildlife in Boulder County” my ten paintings include two large landscapes and eight smaller wildlife paintings.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Artificial Intelligence is going to have a huge influence, but experts disagree on what that influence will be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.solleroriginals.com/book/4739/national-parks-and-beyond
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruth.soller.fine.art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ruth.Soller.Fine.Art/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthsoller/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Ruth.Soller.Fine.Art/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RuthSoller
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/ruthsoller/
Image Credits
RuthSoller_Portrait©2020ErinCoxELC
