Ruth Borges, Visual Artist

In 2020 I purchased tickets to go see Sensorio in Paso Robles. The event was canceled after the Covid lockdown began. I had read about this art installation by British artist Bruce Munro the year it opened, 2019, and I couldn’t wait to see it. But the pandemic postponed that visit. You can imagine my disappointment. Some months later I painted “Imagining Sensorio”. This past week I finally got to experience Sensorio. The spectacular sight of fields covered with more than 100,000 stemmed orbs lit by fiber optics powered by solar energy was worth the wait.

“Breakthrough” sold at Destination:Art’s afternoon Art2Go event. Many beautiful art pieces by South Bay artists found their forever homes!

Green explorations, part two. Here I’m only mixing different greens with each other, adding lemon yellow and white in some areas. I can’t help but think of a Granny Smith apple 🍏 lol! Being a foodie who enjoys going to the farmers market, images of green fruits and veggies are now flowing through my mind, ha-ha 😄. Guess what I’m having for lunch? Yep, salad of course. 🥗 Name your favorite green fruit and/or veggie. 🍏🍐🥝🫛🥦🥬🥒🫑 etc. Okay, back to the painting… loose brush strokes, like dusting a flat surface, freely mixing color on paper instead of on the palette is fun and therapeutic; a carefree approach that allows me to experiment with color and movement after I’ve done a color chart to see and record possible combinations ranging from bright to muted options.

I like to work on a couple of sketchbooks at a time. And I love how this sketchbook page turned out!! Earlier stages were so-so. But later I came back with a transparent blue-violet wash over several areas. It’s wonderful now. 💙🎨💜 Lots to see and enjoy.

Sketchbook book exercise. Exploring warm and cool greens led to an abstract landscape in my last paint session. I want to expand the range of tones. But I’ll leave as is for now…

“Breakthrough”, 8”x10”.
No matter how many times we fail, breakthrough is still possible.

As this piece came together, it wasn’t until the very end that I experienced a sense of transcendence. A while later, the word breakthrough came to mind, hinting at layers of meaning on different levels. I’ll have to sit and listen to this one for a while, reviewing past moments of sudden positive change. They’re infused with living hope. Mmmm… lots to think about and be grateful for.

FB friends! I’m excited to be participating in this event alongside artists from the South Bay next Saturday. Stop by between 3pm and 6pm on November 11 at Destination Art gallery in Old Torrance. See details in the post I’ve shared.🎨

1-DAY ONLY! Art2GO SALE, Sat. 11/11, 3-6 pm
Unsigned, Unframed works -all mediums, 4 sizes
8x10s and 9x12s at$100 each; 11x14s and 12x12s at $150 each
Artist will sign your purchase
Framers on site: or
Enter for a chance to Win $100 for a Frame!
1815 W 213th St, Torrance CA
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16”x20” acrylic on canvas, inspired by sunsets. Love watching them, getting lost in them. There are days when God paints a sunset sky, spilling buckets of color, and almost everyone at the beach stops to take it in. Others driving by pull over to enjoy the breathtaking display. Those colors stay with me and show up in my paintings when I least expect it.

Sections of today’s session. Brushwork, palette knife, mark making create a fun composition of color, movement, and textures. Lots to see and enjoy!🎨

Fourth and last of my summer series. Borrowing colors from peaceful sunset skies by the beach. This last piece hints of October’s colorful sunset skies. A nod to the upcoming autumn season.

2nd in the summer series of cool and warm colors. Does it convey diving deep or climbing to the heights? I like how it lends itself for either interpretation. Sometimes I’m diving deep to learn, then climb up out of the depths with treasures found hidden in secret places, grateful to share what I’ve discovered.

First of four from my recent summer series. I love playing with this warm and cool color palette.💕🎨 The last three photos are close up sections. Happy Friday!

A favorite summer color themed piece from three years ago; experimenting with fluid acrylic paint. I enjoyed trying them out for about a year, but went back to the more versatile heavy body acrylics.

Section of work in progress. Been having a blast with my last series of four summer color themed paintings; 9”x12” acrylic on watercolor paper. Some mark making fun and other elements. Can’t wait to share more! I can’t believe summer is going by sooo quickly!!! 🎨🌞

“Summer Joy” went to its forever home today! Thanks ! It was great seeing you!

Color swatches for the series of four in progress. Summer colors themed compositions on hot press watercolor paper.

This kept morphing over and over. I almost gave up on it. Then I added the blue shape at the bottom and my heart and mind stopped arguing. I still had to do minor adjustments, and wow, I love it now! I shared about this over the phone with my husband, and he kindly, but firmly, said “ma’am walk away from the painting”. He knows me well. Yet, I still had to fix a couple of spots. But now I’m about 10 feet away from it. And there’s a wall between us. Jus’ sayin’. 😄

This one was a fun ride! Also sharing section close ups. Summertime colors from walks by the beach, farmers market, and concerts in the park. My favorite season.

Midweek paint session, creating several compositions at a time so I don’t overwork any of them; allowing colors to dry. Still working on this one. The last three photos are from sections of the composition. No red nor orange here. Yet. 😉🎨

I painted this one a while ago. It was one of those almost-but-not-quite-yet-there paintings. I really liked it but couldn’t figure out what was missing. Maybe a week or two went by. Then I sensed that perhaps some white paint might help. When I brushed it on, wow, the whole composition came alive. Very happy with it now. 🤍

Sketchbook exercise session. Love the cool and warm play in this composition!! The unintentional abstracted goldfish swimming about in the light ultramarine blue pond caught me by surprise!! Do you see it?

“It Feels Like Summer”. I have a small jar stash of neon colors I had not used in a while. Since I’ve been working with a summer color scheme these days, why not add a few neons? Painting with a palette knife and catalyst wedge first, then some brushwork and mark making, I had a field day experimenting on this sketchbook page. I like to find sections throughout out the composition and crop them separately to see the “paintings within the painting”. I love the whole page as is, yet the small cropped sections are wonderful too.

Summertime colors on my sketchbook this weekend. Borrowing colors from super bloom gardens everywhere I go. The variety is fascinating! Gardeners, thank you, your work inspires! I appreciate it all the more because I don’t have a green thumb. Mom and grandmother did; they were amazing. I, on the other hand, am so thankful for my stash of tubes and jars of paint!🎨

Completed this piece late afternoon today. I look at it and it feels peaceful and hopeful. Didn’t intend to paint an abstract landscape, but there it is. I love it. Even though there’s movement just about everywhere, there’s a sense of calm. Maybe the title will be “Calm Hope”. Several friends come to mind with those qualities. A kind blessing. They inspire and encourage me.

18”x24”, acrylic on canvas

What I love most about leftover paint is that I get a bonus, carefree sketchbook play session. Ideally, I’d like to paint like this on canvas. I’ve a few hanging around I could dress up in these vibrant colors.

Neighborhood garden inspired. So many lovely blooms popping up these days because of the past few months’ heavy rains.

He Is Risen Indeed!

An interesting ride this has been combining rough and straight edges in this series of four. It was not my intention, yet I like the results, along with the rich textures and mark making. The paintings are 8”x10”, and are available.