Luz Marina Ruiz "Alphabet Soup 3" Watercolor and Gouache, Abstract Painting in Slate Blue Ochre, Carmel California Art, Original 8 X 8 Inches, 2025

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Rounded arches and bulbs in ochre, saffron, coral and gray-lilac crowd the center of this small square, ringed by dark, … Read more Rounded arches and bulbs in ochre, saffron, coral and gray-lilac crowd the center of this small square, ringed by dark, calligraphic curves and crossed by two bold, dark strokes. A navy sphere rests at the upper right, and a pale oval sits at the left. The ground is slate blue shading toward plum at the corners, with the paint thin in some places and chalky in others. The shapes feel like players gathered around a table, close together and talking. Luz Marina Ruiz is drawn to dreams and nature, and the image has a dreamlike intimacy.

A rich little piece for a study, a living room shelf, a bedroom or a salon-style wall. The ochre and slate palette flatters walnut, brass, leather and deep blue or green walls, and it holds its own among books and objects. Group it with other small works or let it sit alone on a ledge at eye level, where its warm center draws the eye in.

Watercolor and gouache, 8 x 8 in (20.3 x 20.3 cm).

This work is painted in watercolor and gouache, combining the transparent washes of one with the opaque, matte color of the other. Layering the two lets Luz Marina Ruiz build soft, glowing grounds, then define shapes with crisp edges, fine drawn lines and small areas of pattern. The grain of the paper shows through the pigment, giving the small format a tactile, hand-worked surface.

Luz Marina Ruiz was born in Cali, Colombia, and raised in New York. She earned her BA, MA and MFA at the University of California, Berkeley, and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she teaches printmaking at the California College of the Arts.

Her practice moves between painting, drawing, printmaking and book arts, with linocut, collagraph, monotype and woodcut often turned into sculptural tunnel books and carousel books. Inspired by dreams and nature, she returns to water and boats as images of life's journeys. Her work is held in public collections including the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, UC Berkeley's Environmental Design Library and Mills College Special Collections. See less