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Work Samples

Hidden Cave Necklace

Hand-cut pendant from reclaimed exotic wood from a guitar workshop. Hand-painted with acrylic and sewn together with vintage thread passed to me from my grandmother. Hand-made suede lace. 3.25"x2" 2019

American Love Story

Painted as a commission for friends who, to me, represent a perfect vision of our country. A black man whose family roots lie in North Carolina slavery and an Indian woman who is the daughter of immigrants. They are now a corporate lawyer and director the New Jersey Transit System, respectively, and raising their son in their 1920's New Jersey home. 48"x60" Acrylic, charcoal, aerosol, with hand-cut stencils on canvas.

Pipeline

Created in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline and in support of the subsequent Standing Rock protests. Hand-cut stencils were used in this piece. 6"x13" Acrylic, aerosol, and charcoal on birch bark. 2017

Great Sand Dunes in the Rain

Based on my camping trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was cold, raining, and marvelous. 20"x24" Acrylic on canvas.

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About Magan

Baltimore City

Magan Ruthke's picture
A self-taught artist, Magan has been a long time resident of Baltimore City, Maryland, where she spent 15 years with the Children’s Museum in Baltimore. She re-directed her path to become a certified naturalist, professional artist, and informal educator at World House Community Supported Education. With a diverse interest in subject matter, Magan hopes to evoke connections from the human-created world to the world living and breathing all around us. She highlights her travels, her love of the natural... more
View Magan's Resume

Reclaimed

I believe that finding beauty in the simple things available to you can give an object power. Collecting and constucting turns an otherwise average peice into wearable art, an heirloom, and a slice of natural history.

  • Hidden Cave Necklace

    Hand-cut pendant from reclaimed exotic wood from a guitar workshop. Hand-painted with acrylic and sewn together with vintage thread passed to me from my grandmother. Hand-made suede lace. 3.25"x2" 2019

  • Sunrise Necklace

    Created from reclaimed, exotic, wood from a guitar makers workshop, this piece is painted to represent the dawn. Handmade suede lace. 2"x2" Acrylic on reclaimed wood 2019

  • Geometric Collar Necklace

    Reclaimed, exotic, wood scrap pieced together to create a collar necklace as art. Handmade, adjustable, suede lace. 6"x6" 2019

  • Garlic Mustard Necklace

    Created from reclaimed exotic guitar makers wood, this necklace is hand-painted and decorated with pressed garlic mustard collected from the Remington Village Green community garden. Hand-made, adjustable suede lace. 3"x2.5"

  • Native Pendant

    A commission. Hand-shaped exotic wood with pressed hoary mountain mint, goldenrod, and trumpet honeysuckle collected in my greened alley in Baltimore. 4"x2" 2019

  • Half Circles & Blossoms Earrings

    Delicately hand-painted, hand-cut reclaimed exotic wood. Pressed trumpet honeysuckle. 2.5"x2" Acrylic and pressed plants on wood 2019

  • Virgin's Bower Bowl

    A collaboration. A hand-turned wood bowl made from a 100 year old piano made by fellow artist Christos Maricle. Hand-painted virgin's bower in reflection of a new native vine planted in our community garden. Sealed with a eco friendly finish. 6"x6" 2019

  • Chrysanthemum Bowl

    A collaboration. A hand-turned wood bowl made from a 100 year old piano made by fellow artist Christos Maricle. Hand-painted chrysanthemum in reflection of a new native vine planted in our community garden. Sealed with a eco friendly finish. 6"x6"

  • Virgin's Bower Bowl: Side View

    6"x6" Acrylic on reclaimed wood

  • Chrysanthemum Bowl: Side View

    6"x6" Acrylic on reclaimed wood

American Landscapes

Bitter cold winters. Lush mountains. Bright deserts. These are the images of my travels across America.

  • Dolly Sods Cotton Grass

    A recent hiking trip to Dolly Sods Wilderness this fall produced amazing landscapes. This one of a cotton grass amongst a field of boulders was one of them. 11"x14" Acrylic on canvas 2019

  • Canaan Valley Sunset

    Sunset over the Canaan Valley, near Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia. 4"x12" Acrylic on canvas 2019

  • The Blue Mesa

    Based on my camping trip to Petrified Forest National Park. 24"x24" Acrylic on canvas 2019

  • Great Sand Dunes in the Rain

    Based on my camping trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was cold, raining, and marvelous. 20"x24" Acrylic on canvas.

  • Cliff Palace #1

    An up close view of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park. The bottom pattern in representative of the Pueblo people who built these incredible structures. 9"x12" Acrylic on canvas 2019

  • Natural Bridge in Winter

    18"x18" Acrylic on Canvas 2018 View of Natural Bridge, Virginia on New Years Day 2018

  • The Frozen Stream

    40"x30" Acrylic on Recycled Canvas 2018 Winter View of Raphine, Virginia Ranch Land

  • Tidal Cave at Waianapanapa.jpg

    A glimpse into a tidal cave created by lava at Waianapanapa State Park, Maui. 30"x40" Acrylic on canvas 2019

  • Sunset at 10,000 Feet

    16"x40" Acrylic on Canvas 2018 View from Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii

  • View from Upcountry, Maui

    The view from of the center of Maui where one can see the waters almost meet. The kapa patterns are native to Hawai'i and represent the path of the warrior, family, and the sharing of cultures. 20"x20" Acrylic on canvas 2019

Lazy Whale Mural

A commission to design and execute a pattern based mural for a private vacation home in Ocean City, MD. Based on tradional quilt patterns: descending mountains and north star.

October 2018

Folk Art Steps

A commission to create and execute a folk art mural on the steps of a private residence in Charles Village, Baltimore, MD.

Completed in spring 2018.

  • Completed Lower Folk Art Steps

    Completed section of the upper set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

  • Completed Upper Folk Art Steps

    Completed section of the upper set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

  • Folk Art Steps Upper Detail

    Detail of the upper set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

  • Lower Folk Art Steps Detail

    Detail of the lower set of steps. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Latex on Concrete.

  • Upper Steps: Sketch

    Preliminary drawings of the upper set of steps of the house. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Prisma color on velum.

  • Lower Steps: Sketch

    Preliminary drawings of the lower set of steps of the house. A collaborative effort between the home owners and myself, the design was created to reflect the previous designs painted on the upper molding of the home. Prisma color on velum.

  • Folk Art Steps: Before

    Before picture of both sets of steps.

Border Crossings

Work as a naturalist, educator, and artist, collide to create a series of works that show mans' patterns, borrowed from the environment and imprinted on that natural world creating unatural boundaries where there should be none.

  • It All Began With Chicory

    16" x 20" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Board with Original Stenciling

  • Migration

    10" x 20" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Canvas with Original Stencil

  • Border Crossing #2

    12" x 12" Acrylic, Charcoal, and Spray Paint on Board with Original Stencils

  • Pipeline

    Created in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline and in support of the subsequent Standing Rock protests. Hand-cut stencils were used in this piece. 6"x13" Acrylic, aerosol, and charcoal on birch bark. 2017

  • Birds in the Air

    5" x 7" Watercolor on Cold Press Paper

  • Native Refugee

    36" x 48" Acrylic & Spray Paint on Canvas with Original Stencil

  • Wisdom in the Missouri

    5" x 7" Watercolor on Cold Press Paper

  • Eve is From Africa

    9" x 12" Watercolor & Acrylic on Cold Press Paper

Exposed Traditions

Patterns once used to share histories and to, perhaps, signal on the Underground Railroad. Plants, now seen as weeds, that were the basis for healing and nutrition. Traditions lost, but now raised up, as a reminder of who we are and where we have come from.

Abstract/Naturally

As a naturalist, the smallest elements in nature focus sharply, while backdrops blur and become a nest of feeling. The hoof of a deer, the twirl of a vine, these are the things that stay with me. By sharply seperating these details from their greater canvas, I hope to remind the audience that the smallest moments are sometimes the most memorable.

Connect with Magan

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Magan Ruthke: Artist

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