"playing with color makes my heart sing"

     Award winning artist Ruth Höök Colby expresses her vision through the medium of pastel. “Pastel is pure pigment with just enough binder to hold the rich powder together.  For me, the combination of soft texture and powerful color, innate to pastel, is one of the most important aspects of the medium….playing with color makes my heart sing.”

     My inspiration is both internal and external resulting in both abstract and realistic work.  In the abstract work some paintings evolve from intuitive random drawings and present an idea or thought from a personal inner perspective.  Realistically, landscape is the inspiration, sometimes total realism, other times I tweak it a bit to add a touch of the abstract. Most importantly, creativity compels the artist to evolve, change and explore new avenues of expression.

      Her enjoyment and perfection of this medium has won acclaim with numerous awards nationally and internationally this year winning two awards in the Richeson 75 Landscape, Seascape and Architectural competition. She holds signature membership with the Degas Pastel Society and the Southeastern Pastel Society where she has been juried into their Open International Juried Exhibitions the last 12 years.  She is included in the book "Best of America, Pastel Artists and Artisans 2007" and was one of 10 finalists internationally selected in a landscape competition sponsored by Pastel Artist International magazine (Sept./Oct 2002 edition)

   Selected Juried Exhibitions
   Degas Pastel Society, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS
   Pastels Only solo exhibit at FL. W. Coast Symphony Center, Sarasota, FL
   Renaissance in Pastel, 12th Annual National Pastel Exhibition, W. Hartford, CT
   Art Encounter 2000ne, 2003, Von Liebig Art Center, Naples, FL
   South Florida Museum, - Invitational, Artists Paint Florida - Bradenton, FL
   Southeastern Pastel Society, International Exhibit,  Marietta-Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, GA
   Eighth Biennial National Exhib. Pastel Society of N. Florida, Ft. Walton Beach, FL
   Hilton Head National Exhibit, Hilton Head, SC
   The Artists National, Coastal Center for the Arts, St. Simon Island, GA
   Pastels on Cape Cod, Creative Arts Center, Chatham, MA
   Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL
   Pastels U.S.A., Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael, CA

   Publications include:   
   "Nokomis artist is Hooked on Pastels" - Venice Gondolier, Feb. 08
   "Shows recent work" - Pelican Press, May 1, 2007
   "Venice painter Colby featured on Web gallery" - June 16, 2006
   "Pastel artist works with the real and the abstract "- Sarasota Herald Tribune, May 20, 2005
   "Artist a pastel girl in a watercolor world" - The Osprey Observer, October 1, 2004 
   "Artist in Residence, Arts Page, Sarasota Herald Tributne, June 17, 2001
       
     In addition to studies at the Ringling School of Art and Design and  Manatee Community College, Ms. Colby has participated in numerous workshops with nationally recognized artists such as Katherine Chang Liu, Albert Handell, Richard McKinley, Alex Powers, Susan Ogilvie and Alan Flattmann.  

       Her work is in the permanent collection of the Belk Library at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina as well as private collections throughout the United States and Europe.  

       Please refer to "giclee prints" for information on signed and numbered, limited edition giclee prints.

       Ms Colby is represented by the Katharine Butler Gallery, Towles Court, Sarasota, Florida and is a member of the Petticoat Painters, an invitational womens art organization..