Olds artist's work on display at Mt. Pleasant Library

Most artists will generally work with one or two media and go with that. Ruth Meth of Olds is an artist that is comfortable working in several different forms for her art.

Meth is a very creative artist that works with oil and acrylic painting, watercolors, tile and porcelain painting, charcoal drawing, wood sculpture, printmaking and terra cotta pottery.

“I went to school at Iowa State Teacher’s College, which in now University of Northern Iowa,” said Meth. That was in 1960, and she did go back to college later, after raising children, and graduated with an art degree from Iowa Wesleyan University in 1996.

“The one media that I learned the most in, and do the least in now, is printmaking,” said Meth. “I learned various forms of printmaking. All of which require a fairly large shop to do, it requires a pretty extensive setup.”

When asked of her current desired media, Meth replied, “My favorite, now, is non-traditional. It is china paint on tile. China paint is an open medium, in other words, it does not dry until you fire it, once you fire it and it bonds to the surface.” China painting is not a normal art form for Meth. “It is a tight form for me, I am more of a loose painter. Painting on tiles is another canvas for me that is very different. It is a place to put paint.”

When asked of her currently display at the Arts IMPACT gallery in the Mt. Pleasant Public Library, Meth explains that the work exhibited is from high school up to present day. And although she has been absent from galley showings in the last couple of years, she is excited about the current display that is at the library throughout December and January.

“My production of art cannot be forced,” explained Meth. “It’s through inspiration. I can spend hours up in my studio and produce nothing, and then there are times where I can go there and produce a finished piece in minutes. It’s not something that is there all the time.”

“Right now I am working on a painting of a church, I started it at least five years ago, said Meth. Finally, I put something on the canvas that made it come together, and now I’ve got a couple of finishing touches to it and it will be complete.”

Meth’s style for a lot of her work is of the past. “I draw on a lot of my experiences. My former art teacher’s philosophy was paint what you know.”

Meth has received recognition in Iowa Artist Regional shows since 2000. Her work is currently placed in private collections throughout Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, Kenya, Japan, Spain and the United States. She maintains her own gallery in her home in Olds and invites guests to come and view her work.