Artist Bio
Ruby gardens, makes art, and creates community from a quiet cove high in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She retired there from her hometown of Atlanta, where she worked as an art teacher and then a garden designer. In her collages, she uses the simple lines, shapes, colors and textures of those elementary school art lessons, arranging and rearranging them to find a resonant combination of elements, always trying to understand what lies beneath and how things fit together. She embraces simple found materials, relishing a scrap of metal found on the road or a weathered cardboard box.
Special note about the Changes Series:
As a young woman, I thought it would be important (and terribly cool) to study The I Ching, or Book of Changes, the ancient Chinese book of wisdom. I gained a minimal understanding then, but the only part that remains with me now is “perseverance furthers”. Still a good lesson.
Recently I have been deconstructing old books to use the materials for collages (although I have been reluctant to destroy a signed copy of Irving Stone’s The Passions of the Mind, purchased at a thrift store in Chamblee Ga for $1). I find the textures and colors of the covers, bindings and pages to be beautiful and inspiring. When I came across a copy of the I Ching in a used book bin, I bought it, thinking to re-ignite my early studies. Instead, I found myself interacting with the wisdom in a more visual and tactile way.
