Talking to: Ruth Draws Things
Illustrator Ruth Stewart has been been drawing since she could hold a pencil. After studying illustration at the University of Westminster, then a couple of years partying and managing bars in the wilderness of South London she picked up her pens again & decided to start sharing her work on social media. She now works freelance as an illustrator, specialising in portraiture, sign-writing & lino-printing; as well as dabbling in tattoo design & mural painting. Mostly inspired by nature, femininity & magic her work explores how these elements interact.
Where are you at the moment? How is everything going?
I have been in Bristol for about a year now; I am getting to know people and make more creative connections. I work from home loads, so lock down hasn’t made a massive difference to me; the main difference is that I usually work as a waitress, so obviously that isn’t happening. But apart from that it is business as usual; me sat at home on my own, at my desk, drawing all day.
I am very lucky in my situation. I live with my boyfriend, but our flat has two separate storeys, and he produces music, so he has his studio upstairs, and I have mine downstairs, not really getting in each other’s way, which is good. I don’t think we have ever spent so much time together! Our relationship is getting stronger being locked down together, as opposed to hating each other, which is quite reassuring.
Where do you feel illustration ends and art starts?
That is something I try really hard to figure out. I think my wanderings around that question are exactly what led me to illustration. Because I think everyone defines it differently, but in my mind fine art is a lot more conceptual. Imagine illustration as a replacement for words; illustration is more of a way of describing a narrative, or, to illustrate an idea, whilst fine art is more art for the sake of the concept. I have one of my university tutors to thank for that, I feel very grateful for being on the course I was on, it was really exceptional.
Obviously my main reason for pursuing a career in art was not to make lots of money, because I wouldn’t have gone into this if that was my main goal. There are more applications to illustration than just hanging your art in a gallery, which I was happy about because I was someone who wanted to make a career out of it. And I feel illustration is much broader in terms of what media you can use. Whilst if you choose a fine art specialism, you are kind of stuck within the confines of that. With illustration you can use textile, printmaking, graphic design, drawing; a really broad range of applications to use in the real world.
Do you feel though, in your illustrations, there is an aspect of that broader conceptual idea that is behind fine art practice?
Honestly, not really no. I use art as a kind of escapism, and I suppose the one recurring theme in my work is whimsy. My work isn’t about any hard hitting concepts; I like to illustrate a kind of fantasy world. It is my means of escape from reality. I think I have worked out over the years I use art to completely get away from examining reality in great detail.
That leads into my next question; What has led to you being inspired by nature, femininity and magic? You have kind of answered that really.
Well, my practice as an illustrator has evolved quite a lot, and I am constantly questioning myself, especially as I don’t really have a specialism or a style really, I dabble in lots of materials. So it has more been a case of working from that vantage, looking through my work and realising that those are the themes. As opposed to saying ‘this is what I want to make work about’ that is the work I have made, and over time that is the pattern that I have noticed emerge.
That my art always has natural elements, and fantasy elements, I think, has a lot to do with a childhood doing lots of outdoorsy stuff. I am really lucky that I had quite a go-getting mum, always taking us on bike rides, dog walks, I was always in amongst nature as a child. I also read a lot; I loved to read a lot of fantastical literature and I think that always influences my work.
In terms of the femininity aspect, I think that that is mostly inspired by the fact that in art history, we have been subjected to a lot of perceptions of femininity from the male perspective. In a lot of those representations, women always seem kind of like weak, super-feminine, ladylike; carrying flowers and stuff like that. I wanted to explore another kind of femininity, where the women in my work are often strong and muscular, they have demon horns, or are just a slightly different viewpoint of what femininity can be.
Tell me about your involvement with Upfest...
Well, I was going to be involved with Upfest this year, I applied for it and was thrilled to be selected, but obviously that has all changed now, which is really upsetting. But I presume it is going to go ahead at some point, and I am incredibly excited and honoured to be part of Upfest, because it is such a renowned festival.
It will be amazing when it does happen, everything will be amazing when it does happen, because we will appreciate it all so much more….
Exactly! I completely agree, and I think if anything, this whole lock-down situation has made people realise how important the arts are, because it has meant a lot of people have turned to creative stuff to help fill their time, and it helps with stress and anxiety. I think people are getting a renewed appreciation for how it is actually really important to have a creative outlet, it’s not just a flight of fancy.
I think art is a way to hold on to your actual humanity, as opposed to just your basic survival needs. People need more than just a roof over their head and food, they need something human, and I think anything you do that is creative is anchoring you into being a human being, rather than just a robot going through the motions.
And what other visual art, writing, music or books are keeping you sane at the moment?
Well, Instagram is a massive tool for me at any time, and at the moment I am lucky to be following some really amazing artists on there, and getting inspired to try new things. For example I am following an artist called Angela CC Pan, who does these incredible landscapes… I really enjoy just browsing Instagram for illustrators, and seeing if there is anything they are doing I want to try.
In terms of non-art, I do a lot of ballet, I really rely on it to keep me sane, and keep me and my brain and my body energised and focused and able to be creative. I think if I was just lying around on the sofa I wouldn’t feel like being creative, so that is just as important to my practice as actually putting down a drawing.
What is coming up next then? What are you working on at the moment?
The summer is usually a really good time of the year for me to be out doing the commercial aspects of my work, like sign-writing and mural painting, and that’s all pretty uncertain for me because of lock-down. So I do worry a little bit that when businesses do open, financially they are going to be a little bit tight on hiring people like me that come and do nice things for them. Having said that as an illustrator, it's all about uncertainty, you never know if it's going to be a bad month or a good month, so you have to take that in your stride anyway, you have to be able to adapt.
But if I have discovered anything during lock-down, is that the people who are in the financial situation to be able to, are really keen to support small businesses at the moment. Because they know that we are struggling. I hope that continues. Even if you bring it down to the most basic of needs, like my grocery shopping, I am trying to use loads of local small delis and bakeries at the moment, because I know they need my support the most. And that is how it should be. If it wasn’t for that mentality my business would have shut down, so I think lots of people are reassessing their shopping habits, and supporting small businesses like mine.
I guess for now I am not making any plans for the future, because we don’t know how long this will go on. I am just hoping my steady stream of private commissions continues, because that is something I really enjoy doing. Whilst the sign-writing and that type of stuff is the money spinner, for want of a better word, the private work is a lot more rewarding for me; to create personal work on a one-to-one basis.
And with that in my mind, my long, long term goal is to train as a tattooist. I think that aspect of my work is really emerging. But for now I am very happy just sat in my tiny studio making custom orders for people; it is very rewarding.
