Ruth Gilmore Langs didn’t always work in her preferred medium of oil paints. Although she began painting in nursery school and was taught oil painting in high school, she ultimately studied film, TV and writing, while minoring in painting, at American University in Washington DC. Post college, she worked closely with her mentor and teacher, Kwok Wai Lau, a Chinese artist, which is how she truly began to blossom as an artist.
These days, Ruth’s inspiration comes predominately from within. An intensely personal process, she uses her own life experiences and surroundings to create her paintings, and is always curious to see what they will reveal.
“THINGS OFTENTIMES APPEAR IN MY PAINTINGS THAT I DIDN’T PLAN FOR...
AND THAT IS SO MAGICAL FOR ME”
Ruth’s artist statement also reflects her deeply personal relationship with her work.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Art is the language of the human spirit, the rhythm, beat and song of the self. Sometimes difficult to decipher but, with surrender, on may travel into the heart of the painting.
Once the veil is lifted, you may journey into the glory, passion and vulnerability of one’s human soul. And, allow yourself to see again, as a child, when at once everything is magic.
Why else are we here, but to experience and to express the movement of passion and the fire in our spirits. One’s own inner fire can respond to my paintings by feeling their own dance within!
Back in 2001, Ruth felt compelled to paint a tribute to the United States of America as we as a nation were grieving over the events of 9/11. She has continued painting various expressions of her sentiments for the USA throughout the years and only just recently has shared these works in a new show titled FREE: The USA Series. It is currently on display at the Coconut Grove Art Festival in Florida and runs through April 20, 2019.
We think the world of Ruth, both as a friend and an artist, and have thoroughly enjoyed working with her throughout the years including private commissions for our design clients (as shown below) as well as featuring and selling selected pieces of hers in our shop and showroom in Ann Arbor and online.
Check out Ruth’s paintings, currently available in our online shop, and be sure to come back often to see what new pieces of hers we’ve selected!
All photos by CLOTH & KIND except for portfolio images which were taken by Martin Vecchio and Beth Singer