MAGNOLIAS · 12x16 · Palette knife, oil
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Gallery Representation:
Church Street Inn
Charleston, SC
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Artworks Gallery
Litchfield Beach, SC
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Affiliations:
Waccamaw Arts & Crafts Guild
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SLAC
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Plein Air Florida
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Thoughts About Painting
If all the world’s a stage, then Light is surely the star of the show. My paintings all have light dancing through them, revealing form, color and texture. In my still life paintings, portraits, and landscapes, I am interested not so much in the objects or places themselves as in the way the light plays around them.
I have recently taken up painting with a palette knife or painting knife. I have several knives of different sizes and shapes that I use for specific purposes. This makes it possible for me to paint outdoors safely, as there are no brushes to clean and therefore no environmentally harmful fluids to carry. The knives give beautiful textured effects, clean colors, and a wonderful delicious feeling, almost like spreading icing on a cake or peanut butter on a sandwich!
One of my favorite places to paint is in a garden. I have painted in Magnolia Gardens in Charleston, SC, and Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC. I am fascinated by the slant of light over the top of a garden wall, light filtering down through trees and making patterns on the ground, light illuminating flowers and making their colors sing. I love the way a garden can be so peaceful and soothing, and yet be a riot of color and birdsong and squirrel activity. Painting keeps me standing relatively still for periods of time, and animals come close and keep me company, feeling no threat from my presence. I have enjoyed the company of a great blue heron, a fox squirrel, snakes, butterflies, a nest of baby Carolina wrens, and an alligator, not to mention a few biting flies. Painting outdoors en plein air puts me out there in the world, and part of the fun is chatting with the people who pass by and stop to ask questions.
Plein-air painting started with the French Impressionists, notably Claude Monet, who was one of my idols as a child. He went right to the Source, painting from nature, and found new ways of seeing light and color. I am grateful to be able to be a part of that tradition, and hope to continue this delightful pursuit as long as I live.
-- Ruth Cox
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Cox lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and wears many hats. She paints murals, teaches workshops and is an avid plein-air painter who loves to use her palette knife capturing the beauty found all around her home. She loves to paint pathways and mysterious quiet places leaving a message to all of us.
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Visit Ruth's site
& email her here:
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