Journeys Under Blue Skies
Our highly-creative Western North Carolina art community grants us a type of continuous discovery-mode.
We’re seeing new art and meeting the fascinating people who make it. Artists offer the magic of shared journeys, providing connection, inspiration and real joy.
I first met Ruth Meaders last fall on a snowflake-fluttery day in a Weaverville coffee house, and I suspected even then that her dynamic, radiant strength was what was keeping the snow from actually reaching the ground. A combination of intelligence, humility, humor and genuine kindness make for an inspiring visit, and Ruth brings all of that to a conversation. Not to mention her art is beautiful.
Ruth’s path to Weaverville began in Novia Scotia, before moving on to Bermuda, Southern California and then West Texas. Many of her paintings include an appreciation of the big, blue canopies that connect all these places. Ruth’s expertise with the brush, and ability to translate her viewpoint with an emotionally-connected vitality, helps me feel like I’m really seeing her scenes. I appreciate art driven by true experience, which allows one to become immersed. It’s about energy in addition to process.
I also recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Ruth in her artistic home to chat a bit more over tea. Her space, containing special objects here and there, yet uncluttered, is bright and airy. I notice a horizontal landscape of West Texas, full of buttes and valleys, which contains an expansive sky. Ruth mentions that it is one of her favorites, and I think that it is one of mine, too. A large cloud scene leans near the fireplace, and even only halfway through, it is a powerful study in darks and lights.
Greg Vineyard: I have always drawn, since earliest memory – have you been a life-long artist?
Ruth Meaders: (I have) always been into something creative, even as a child.
GV: What is your favorite medium? And has it changed over the years?
RM: I love oils, but I hate cleaning up brushes, so I have done quite a few acrylics in the past few years.
GV: Has any travel, or places you’ve lived, influenced anything about your art?
RM: Italy, for one, with the bright colors and textures. Also, West Texas and New Mexico. Really, everything excites and influences me.
GV: What are you working on now?
RM: I have a large oil of a North Carolina sunset, a cloud painting in acrylic, and several smaller acrylics, and some Thai Paper Goddesses.
Ruth brought out examples of the Goddesses. She encountered marbleized paper with gold overprinting, where she saw shapes throughout, much as she sees the forms of people and other objects in trees. Using watercolor pens, she then draws these images directly on the paper, interweaving something new to see within the patterns.
GV: Describe a perfect day for you.
RM: Arising early and seeing the sun rise over the mountains, taking a walk, seeing something in nature like the resident bear, maybe lunch with some friends, and some creative work.
Nature, as both inspiration and subject matter, abounds in Ruth’s paintings. She also shared with me about some of the artists and friends who inspire her, some of whom we have in common, as this region has a delightful, “small-world” aspect to it. And we talked about creating art right up to the end – for there is no “retirement” for artists – and the purity of her dedication and vision is really quite intoxicating. As usual, I am inspired.
The morning that I wrapped up my editing, the skies were quite blue – a preview of warmer weather to come. I’m sure Ruth looked up and noticed that, too, and continued applying brush to canvas.
Visit www.deepintheheartart.com
See Ruth Meaders’ art during the Weaverville Art Safari, April 26-27.
From mid-April to mid-May works by Meaders’ will be part of a show with Leo Monahan at Andrew Charles Gallery, 60 N. Merrimon (Reynolds Mountain, next to the YMCA in North Asheville).
