A quiet haven beneath a desert sun.
In Ladybug, the familiar face of a late-summer bloom turns away from the viewer, offering an intimate look at the unseen architecture of the natural world. Based on reference photography captured in the Big Bend region by photographer Tim McKenna, this piece trades the conventional portrait of a flower for the sculptural underside of its calyx—where layered, lanceolate bracts cradle the heavy blossom and a solitary ladybug finds shelter.
Radiating petals of textured gold, cadmium orange, and warm amber frame an intricate green-and-umber rosette. Using dry-brushed, raked impasto techniques, delicate silver-green pubescence catches the morning rim light along the stem and leaf margins, bringing tactile presence to every contour. Nestled in the lower quadrant rests a singular focal point: a ladybug painted in jewel-like scarlet and deep chromatic blacks of Prussian blue and burnt umber, gleaming with high-gloss specularity against the earthy folds.
Completed with signature solid-black painted edges, Ladybug creates a contemporary, frameless presentation with substantial architectural presence on the wall.
Title: Ladybug
Artist: Ruth Williamson
Medium: Professional Artists' Gouache on Heavyweight Gallery-Wrapped Canvas prepped with Absorbent Watercolor Ground
Dimensions: 20″ H × 16″ W × 1.5″ D
Orientation: Vertical / Portrait
Surface & Technique: Layered gouache application on primed canvas tooth; multi-pass glazing, lifted value mapping, sculpted impasto petal fluting, and specialized raked dry-brush bristle work for botanical pubescence.
Finishing: Hand-rubbed and buffed with archival Dorland’s Wax Medium to a soft satin sheen; gallery-wrap edges painted solid black (ready to hang without external framing).
Provenance & Reference: Created in the Sherman, Texas studio; reinterpreted from original digital landscape reference photography by Tim McKenna (Big Bend, Texas).
Year of Completion: 2026
A quiet haven beneath a desert sun.
In Ladybug, the familiar face of a late-summer bloom turns away from the viewer, offering an intimate look at the unseen architecture of the natural world. Based on reference photography captured in the Big Bend region by photographer Tim McKenna, this piece trades the conventional portrait of a flower for the sculptural underside of its calyx—where layered, lanceolate bracts cradle the heavy blossom and a solitary ladybug finds shelter.
Radiating petals of textured gold, cadmium orange, and warm amber frame an intricate green-and-umber rosette. Using dry-brushed, raked impasto techniques, delicate silver-green pubescence catches the morning rim light along the stem and leaf margins, bringing tactile presence to every contour. Nestled in the lower quadrant rests a singular focal point: a ladybug painted in jewel-like scarlet and deep chromatic blacks of Prussian blue and burnt umber, gleaming with high-gloss specularity against the earthy folds.
Completed with signature solid-black painted edges, Ladybug creates a contemporary, frameless presentation with substantial architectural presence on the wall.
Title: Ladybug
Artist: Ruth Williamson
Medium: Professional Artists' Gouache on Heavyweight Gallery-Wrapped Canvas prepped with Absorbent Watercolor Ground
Dimensions: 20″ H × 16″ W × 1.5″ D
Orientation: Vertical / Portrait
Surface & Technique: Layered gouache application on primed canvas tooth; multi-pass glazing, lifted value mapping, sculpted impasto petal fluting, and specialized raked dry-brush bristle work for botanical pubescence.
Finishing: Hand-rubbed and buffed with archival Dorland’s Wax Medium to a soft satin sheen; gallery-wrap edges painted solid black (ready to hang without external framing).
Provenance & Reference: Created in the Sherman, Texas studio; reinterpreted from original digital landscape reference photography by Tim McKenna (Big Bend, Texas).
Year of Completion: 2026
