November 4th to December 1st, 2020 (date extended)
PLEASE NOTE: walk ins are welcome for the gallery, on your own or small groups of up to three people. Please wear a mask.
New Pastels by Amherst Artist Ruth Rinard
Her grandfather’s farm made her an artist. Golden wheat in the wind, expansive blue sky, billowing clouds, tall yellow tasseled dark green corn, shimmering heat lightning, searing dry heat, or small buildings on the distant horizon filled her with a sense of awe. A transcendent bright abyss opened before her.Later to get an education and to raise a family she moved east. Hills crowded in on each other, sky was hard to come by, and roads disappeared around curves. Ever changing light filtered through forests. Humidity hung everywhere. Everything came in quick glimpses. Everything demanded intimacy, interiority.
Awe and intimacy, two constant threads in her work, are held together by narrative. As she starts a painting, she has a title or phrase in mind. It becomes the narrative linking the deeply personal interior and the unfathomable outer world. Her art strives to make this connection visible.
About Ruth Rinard:
After careers in academe and health sciences, Ruth became intrigued with the freshness of pure pigment and the tactile possibilities of pastel. When she realized she could use her drawing skills within the painterly framework of pastel, she never looked back. Ruth has studied painting with Christine Labich and exhibited work with the Connecticut and New Hampshire pastel societies.