Artist Focus: Sally Ruddy

A closer look at the artwork of Sally Ruddy

Painter Sally Ruddy has always held a deep reverence for nature and it informs all of her paintings. “I look for a mood rather than details,” the artist says. “Sometimes, the art suggests just a hint of a story.”Rising Moon, oil on panel, 16 x 20" ©Rising Moon depicts that moment when the moonrise, so full and lush, hangs in the night sky like a lantern and the trees become silhouettes in the moonlit sky. Just Before the Stars Come Out concerns the end of the day—when the moon is up, just before the stars are out. Ruddy has painted the sky a beautiful shade of royal blue, like lapis lazuli. “It only lasts for a moment but is such magic,” says Ruddy, adding that she often finds herself painting in twos—such as the two chairs and two lampposts. “I’ve been told it’s romantic,” she says.Just Before the Stars Come Out, oil on canvas, 20 x 24" ©

Ruddy was commissioned to paint Saving Santa Barbara. The Woodbridge Fire Department in Northern California sent a strike team to fight a wildfire near Santa Barbara. The numbers on the truck and the license plate are true to life and the “Woodbridge FD” lettering is barely legible on the truck door. “One of my favorite things about this work, is how the head lamps appear to glow as if they are real. The palm tree is so typical of Southern California on a bright summer day. I have never wanted to paint faraway lands,” Ruddy adds. “California is home to me. I know it intimately. It is my familiar.”Saving Santa Barbara, oil on canvas, 14 x 11" ©