Ruth McMillin

Ruth has studied watercolor with Dorcas Moulton and John Finger, both local artists. She is a current member of the California Watercolor Association, Las Juntas Artists, and the Alamo-Danville Art Society. She has exhibited and sold paintings at the Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, Blackhawk CWA Gallery, John Muir Medical Center, the Pleasant Hill (Central) Library, the Pleasant Hill Art, Jazz & Wine Festival, the Moraga Pear Festival, and the Danville Fine Arts Gallery. Her painting Cucurbit Medley was chosen by the Walnut Creek Civic Arts for the December 2003 publicity postcard and mailer, and another painting, Opaque Marbles 2, was the featured painting for their summer sale 2004. Opaque Marbles 3 won the George DeLap Memorial Award for Watercolor at the 14th Annual Regional Exhibit of Fine Art in Tracy, California.

She graduated from UC Berkeley in Computer Science in 1980, although her favorite classes were American Film, German, and Philosophy. Not surprisingly, her interest and involvement in music and art became evident before she was three years old. Despite scholastic achievement in the sciences and in math, her appreciation of visual art has grown over the years. Her favorite artists to date include Roy DeForest, Motherwell, Renoir, and Cassatt.

Her style varies from the low-value paintings of cucurbits and landscapes to the softer tones found in portraits and seascapes. She says of her work:

'' I consider watercolor painting an adventure. I love discovering the story within the painting and how that story evolves. Sometimes I find myself changing the title over time, as my understanding of the piece changes.''

Cucurbit Medley           Opaque Marbles 3