Ruby Newman
Artist’s Statement Strata Series
My work explores the balance between movement and stillness through layered, dimensional compositions constructed from acrylic-painted canvas. Built through an additive process of shaping and texturing, these pieces exist between painting and sculptural relief.
Color and form move in bold yet harmonious relationships, drawing the viewer into a sustained, contemplative experience. While the surfaces project outward through depth and layering, they remain grounded in a quiet visual equilibrium.
In response to an increasingly chaotic world, the work offers a meditative refuge—where rhythm, structure, and material presence create a space for stillness, and where visual complexity resolves into calm.
Each STRATA composition is hand-painted and fabricated using professional archival materials on wrapped canvas supports. Every piece is a one-of-a-kind original, with works ranging from 12" x 12" to 36" x 36", and larger or custom commissions available.
BIO
Ruby Newman is a well-established Bay Area artist working across a range of mediums on canvas and paper. Her work is characterized by a free-spirited approach to color, brushstroke, and an intuitive response to subject matter, resulting in compositions that convey immediacy and vitality.
Whether working in abstraction, contemporary plein air landscapes, figurative studies, or portraiture, Newman’s practice is rooted in a direct and responsive engagement with what she observes and feels. Regardless of subject, the work reflects a consistent commitment to intuition, rhythm, and expressive clarity.
Newman’s early artistic development was shaped by her mother, Lucille, a graduate of the Pratt Institute. Growing up in Northern New Jersey, she was exposed to the galleries and museums of New York City during her formative years. By the age of 13, she had already developed a strong command of figure drawing.
She earned a B.F.A. in Theatrical Design from Carnegie Mellon University, where she received the Bess Kimberly Award for best designer in her class. After four years working in professional theatre, Newman transitioned into public art through the San Francisco Art Commission. Her projects included mural work and the restoration of the 1914 Golden Gate Park Carousel.
Newman was a resident artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin County for two years. Since 1986, she has worked as a commercial decorative painter, earning national recognition for her public art projects, including the restoration of the historic carousel and specialty finishes for Old St. Vincent Church in Petaluma, California.
Throughout her commercial career, Newman has maintained a strong and consistent focus on her fine art practice. Her work is held in private collections throughout the United States and Canada and has been exhibited widely across the Bay Area, including inclusion in the Plein Air Exhibition at the Napa Valley Museum.
Contact:
Ruby Newman
www.rubynewman.com
rn@rubynewman.com
707-765-6824