Innisfail artist Ruth Moore has often leafed through the pages of the Western Art Collector magazine for inspiration and to see what her favourite artists are doing.
Imagine her thrill when a writer from the same Arizona-based publication phoned her this fall to see if Moore was interested in being featured in the December issue. “I was blown away,” said Moore, who doesn’t believe many other Canadian artists have been given this opportunity.
A special section in this month’s magazine, called Art of the Cowboy, features half a page on Moore, including a short description of her trip last summer to the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska, and as well as a photo of her painting Trail Riders.
Moore figures the periodical discovered her work through her website.
“It’s exciting not only because they found me, but were also adequately impressed with my work,” said the 72-year-old, who’s been depicting animals and nature since she was a child. Her mother, who was a landscape painter, got her hooked on art when Moore was a “horse-crazy” 10-year-old.
Judging by her oil paintings, most of which depict wild horses, or riders on horses, Moore is still crazy for equines. “I like to capture the action and immediacy,” said Moore, who has taken many private classes from other artists over the years to try to improve her art.
She strives to paint backgrounds impressionistically, so the subjects “really pop out at you.”
Some of her large paintings, which sell for between $1,600 and $5,000, take months to complete because Moore likes to allow the oil paint to dry, in some cases, before she does over-painting that can take a work in a different direction than her initial drawing. She believes this helps her achieve fluid, natural lines.
“I kind of wing it. I don’t draw much at all,” said Moore, whose friends are “pretty impressed” that she made the magazine.
The artist’s works, which include wildlife art, can be seen in person at the spring art show in Lacombe and at the Medicine Hill Show in Sylvan Lake in August.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com