Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruth Allen.
Ruth, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a self taught artist and I draw and paint and live in a little green house with a little white hound in Athens, Georgia. My art is informed by the birds, flowers, animals, people and anxieties around me. I draw and paint as a means of emotional expression and ventilation.
The two main things that really got me started: having a cartoon in our local free entertainment weekly paper, Flagpole Magazine and my dear friend Amanda Jane Crouse hosting me for my first show at White Tiger Gourmet right here in Athens. I have had a least two solo shows in town every year since. (Hey! It’s my 10th year!)
Last spring, I decided to participate in #the100dayproject on Instagram using digital media to create my work. I have always enjoyed tweaking my ink drawings digitally and before the halfway point, I was drawing and painting and filtering everything in a couple of apps on an iPad. Now, hardly a day goes by that I don’t draw and paint and post. It was so good for me because I wasn’t very disciplined with my art before this.
Right now, I am looking forward to hearing if my submissions made it into the Lyndon House 43rd Annual Juried Exhibition (it is an event that makes January something to look forward to), working on a 4’x8′ mural as part of the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission’s Public Arts Project (my largest piece to date and I am thrilled to have my work hanging alongside such an amazing array of super talented artists) and looking into printing some of my designs on textiles (clothing, bed linens, wallpaper and giftwrap.)
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s all about perceptions, isn’t it? Today, writing this, I want to say the road from where I was to where I am was so smooth, but I can think of many times I wanted to (and did) lie in the floor and cry about whatever was or wasn’t happening with my work. In retrospect, I can see that if I had just gotten out of my own way a bit more often, things could have happened faster maybe. In the end, I believe in right timing and a purpose for everything, even being a sort of late bloomer.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the ruth allen draws and paints (facebook page) @10tinbluebirds (on instagram and etsy) story. Tell us more about the business.
I draw (ink, pencil, crayon, marker and digitally) and paint (acrylic and watercolor) my chronic and daily experiences. I have been told I have a style that runs through everything I do, so people know that it’s my work. Happy with a little bit of a “creepy in a good way” vibe. Something underneath the frivolity. I put my whole heart into everything I create.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Ooh, I feel so lucky so often! And, I think you make your luck. So many times when you don’t get something you think you really wanted, you end up with something much better. For me, luck is about getting out of my own way.
Pricing:
- I sell prints starting at $22.00
- I sell paintings priced by size from $100-1000 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: http://100tinybluebirds.wixsite.com/ruthallen
- Phone: 7068507762
- Email: 100tinybluebirds@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/10tinbluebirds/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RuthAllendrawsandpaints/
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
