Ruth-Anne Siegel's vibrant floral paintings flow from memory and her love of music. As she works, she references her own photographs and sketchbook, and draws energy from the sounds of Etta James, Marvin Gaye, and Pete Townshend. Her paintings begin with a layer of collaged book pages chosen for their fonts. She continues by adding many transparent layers of paint to build the mood of the scene. Ruth-Anne grew up on Long Island and from a very young age knew that she wanted to be an artist. Her parents encouraged her artistic interests by frequently visiting the various museums and galleries in New York. She later attended the Rhode Island School of Design and developed a successful career as a graphic designer in New York and now in the San Francisco Bay Area. After the birth of her third child, she returned her focus to fine art and began studying again through Stanford University continuing education classes. Now that her children are almost grown, she focuses her energy on creating her lively paintings in her standalone purple studio in her backyard. When she’s not painting, she enjoys reading fiction, skiing and hiking. Mostly, I love to drink really good coffee while doing any of these activities, especially with my family, Ruth-Anne says with a smile.