About Ruth Dent - Abstract Artist

Ruth Dent is an award-winning abstract artist based in South West France, known for layered acrylic works on handmade paper exploring nature, spirituality, and the feminine.

Who am I ?

  • What I do: "I mix colours with emotions to celebrate life on Earth"
  • Where: Monflanquin, 47150, France
  • With: Acrylic paint, handmade paper, canvas, linen thread
  • Themes: nature, spirituality, the feminine.
  • Education: BA (Hons) 1st Class, Fine Art Printmaking, UCA Maidstone, Kent, England
  • First Studio: Rochester, Kent, England
Ruth Dent, with red sunglasses (now lost!)
Ruth Dent, with red sunglasses (now lost!)
Dies Irae l - a blue and pale bronze figure, representing Mother and Child, atop the same colours in the horizontally striped background. There are blue lines, for a river, flying grey rectangles, a circle of yellow ochre, and text from the birth certificate of Harry Alfred George Hayter. An original print from the Britten War Requiem Series. Monoprint, screenprints and linocut on Moulin de Larroque paper, 33 x 50cm. This print won the John Purcell Paper Prize at the National Open Print Exhibition in 2015
Dies irae I, 2014, monoprint, screenprints and linocuts on Moulin de Larroque paper, 33 x 50cm

Awards

  • 2015:  Dies Irae I won the John Purcell Paper Award at the National Open Print Exhibition at Bankside, London.
  • 2018: Visual Artist for the Petworth Festival's 40th Anniversary.
Photograph of the Menhir de Tayrac in Lot et Garonne, France, where it is situated at the edge of a wood with a panoramic view over the surrounding countryside.
Menhir de Tayrac Lot et Garonne

At Home

I know that I am lucky - living and working in South West France, amongst great rivers, orchards, vineyards, sunflowers, and so much history.  People have lived here since prehistoric times, and their caves, dolmen and menhirs can still be found today, as well as castles, bastide villages and artefacts from subsequent eras.

Perfect for a girl who grew up amongst hop fields and orchards in Kent, England.

Travelling in the back seat of the family car, I watched the landscape pass by, and believe this is why I have a particular penchant for organic vertical lines, trees and grasses.

A close-up photograph of prune blossom
Prune Blossom
A photograph of one of the internal etched stones from the Gavrinis Cairn.
Internal etched stone from the Gavrinis Cairn

I'm curious, and like to travel

Later travels to the American Mid-West, India, Morocco, The Gambia, La Réunion and within Europe have given me amazing memories of mountains, glaciers, gorges, rivers, deserts, volcanoes plus lush and arid vegetation.

I like visiting Stone Circles, Temples, Churches, Cathedrals and Caves, always tapping into the atmosphere and being aware of stepping over the same ground as so many before me.

I have particularly vivid memories of Elephanta, Ajanta and Ellora in India, and walking the Cirque de Mafate in La Réunion and the labyrinth at Chartres.

View from the river of the mountains in the ravine near Saint-Paul on the island of La Réunion
Near Saint-Paul on the island of La Réunion
View of lichen and leaves on branches against an intense blue sky at the Cirque de Cilaos on the Island of La Réunion
Lichen and leaves, Cirque de Cilaos on the island of La Réunion

How I work

Using a camera as a sketchbook encourages me to keep looking, seeing something familiar anew, or being surprised and inspired by Mother Earth.

Working in series, I spiral around themes of nature, spirituality, the feminine and Life on Earth.

In the studio, the memories of places, and the emotions and colours with which they evoke reappear, making their way into pieces subtly and magically.

My intention is always to create a piece that is alive, balanced and speaks to the heart, using paint plus handmade paper or canvas.

Photograph of frosted bark and grasses
Frosted bark and grasses in Lot et Garonne
Detail of Going around in circles which consists of vertical lines of linen thread tied on a wooden pole. On the vertical threads are many knotted circles. Coloured in light to dark tones of olive green, the weaving is hung away from the wall, allowing shadows to form on the wall. It measures 120 x 132cm (overall 120 x 180 x 15cm)
Going around in circles, 2025, Acrylic, linen thread and wood; weaving: 120 x 132cm; overall: 120 x 180 x 15cm

Connections

Linen thread first appeared in 2015, reappearing in 2021.  I now have a dozen pieces which incorporate this material which has been grown and woven since antiquity.

I see it as a physical representation of the thread that links me with my ancestors, and especially with the strong women who came before me, who made gloves, sewed, knitted or crocheted.

At the start of a studio session, I light a candle, set my intention and put some background music on.

Colour choices are made and brushes used only to mix and apply the base layer.  Then pipettes are used, else paint is poured.

Ruth Dent holding a jar of paint and a pipette with Full Circle on the floor and in progress
Ruth Dent with paint and pipette and Full Circle in progress
Dissolution, from 2024 is an intense red, pink painting with an iridescent white circle in the top half which leeches to either side and below. It is next to Nocturnal Luminance, from 2019, a predominantly blue and purple toned painting again using iridescent white which forms a triangle type shape at the top left which is replicated below with much less intensity. Both acrylic on Moulin de Larroque paper. Dissolution is 142 x 66cm and Nocturnal Luminance is 108 x 73cm.
Dissolution, 2024, Acrylic on Moulin de Larroque paper, 142 x 66cm and Nocturnal Luminance, 2019, Acrylic on Moulin de Larroque paper, 108 x 73cm

Responding

When working I am completely in the moment: painting, watching and responding, until I either decide to stop, or the paper/canvas is soaked.

Chance plays its part as layers dry, and then the process starts again, as subsequent layers partially or wholly obscure those below.

The artworks invite you to spend time with them; to be drawn in; to notice the colours, lines, gestures, movement. To see, to feel, to wonder and to dream, as only you can.

Exhibitions always include music written by Alec Dent, to give you a multi-sensory experience within a spiritual space.

Visit the Videos Page and the Exhibitions Page to see and hear more.

Move, 2024, Acrylic on Moulin de Larroque paper, 50 x 50cm