Laois artist exhibits stunning 8.5 foot tall paintings

A talented young Laois painter has a major exhibition in Abbeyleix Library over the Christmas season that includes three towering 8.5ft paintings.

Ruth Williams from Mountmellick is a graduate in Fine art in Limerick school of Art and Design after a secondary education in Mountmellick CS. She works mainly in oil paints on themes of nature, with trees her particular fascination.

Her exhibition 'Where Time stands Still' features over 40 pieces, six years of work.

“The reception has been good but with it being such a busy time of year I am just grateful for getting the opportunity to hang work that my own family has not yet seen,” she said.

Ruth depicts her trees in glowing colours and abstract shapes, to “provoke an emotional connection and pull the viewer back down to the soil”.

“I wish for my work to have a type of ambience that creates a sense of joy. For as long as I can recall I have been an outdoors person. The woodland awakens an inevitable fascination and revisits memories of childhood summers exploring the ruins of an old house in Garryhinch woods, climbing trees, picking wild flowers, making bark rubbings and envisioning magical creatures,” she said.

A visit to Yosemite National Park in California was the pillar influence for her latest work.

“The intention was to make it as large-scale as possible but still be able to maneuver the work in the studio. The oil paintings stand 8.5ft high and 3ft wide. I wish for the viewer to get similar impact as I did standing staring up at the giant sequoias,” Ruth explains.

Five of those nine paintings were snapped up by a Limerick company at her degree show. Ruth is currently teaching art in St Mary’s CBS Portlaoise.
The paintings are priced from €40 to €200. The exhibition runs in Abbeyleix Library until early January.