ARTIST STATEMENT
As the sun rose on the last day I was in my sister’s home after her funeral, I moved from room to room, door to door, window to window and snapped photos of spaces I had known for 40 years but would never see again. After our parents’ passing, we phoned each other at 7 PM EST/6 PM CST every Sunday evening for more than 28 years. Her children knew better than to call her at that time. If they did, she would not pick up the phone. During one of our calls, she inquired about what art pieces I was working on. I told her I was doing a Night Skies triptych with pieces of blue jeans for the sky, but I was running out of blue denim. Two days after our conversation I received an express overnight delivery of a pair of her old jeans, and I was back to the studio with lots of blue denim!
After her passing, I created a Memorial Triptych using her blue denim combined with my black denim. My artworks depict rooms and spaces that are empty without her. Yellow represents her departed spirit as do feathers. Our last conversation only 2 days before her untimely passing was much longer than usual, far reaching, funny, and a memory I treasure. I miss her every day.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ruth A. Keitz has been involved in art since elementary school. She participated in Saturday art classes at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA from fourth grade through high school. (“Well known” graduates of the Carnegie Institute program include Philip Pearlstein and Andy Warhol!) After graduating with a BA in art from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, she went to the University of Texas at Austin to continue her education. She was a student of Kelly Fearing and Michael Frary. She completed her MFA in art education with a minor in studio art and a PhD in curriculum and instruction with a minor in studio art. During that time, she was a Teaching Assistant in both art and curriculum and instruction and an Assistant Instructor in art.
Keitz taught art in the San Antonio Independent School District before going to the Anchorage School District as Art Coordinator/Director of Art for seven years and then served as Executive Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services for 10 years. Her other teaching experience includes the University of Alaska-Anchorage, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Alaska Pacific University, ED*X*CHANGE, Bauder Fashion College, Weatherford College, Southwestern Adventist University, University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, South Texas College, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She currently continues to create mixed media art in Los Fresnos, in the Rio Grande Valley of far south Texas.
© Ruth A. Keitz