Artist Joanne Beaule Ruggles is enamored by the central coast California landscape. In a reverent manner, this accomplished artist has painted and drawn the region repeatedly over the course of the last thirty years. Committed to action, expression, and process -- Ruggles builds layer upon layer of gestural mark, abstract pattern, and vibrant color until the whispers of a landscape gradually emerge.

A childhood spent in the Midwest causes Ruggles to find amazement at the shape of these trees, the swell of these hills, the expanse of this sky. In fact, the artist believes that it is specifically an enduring wonder at the coastal landscape which provides her art work its truth.

In recognition of that resonance, a Ruggles landscape received the American Society of Contemporary Artists' Donald Pierce Memorial Award in its 84th Annual Exhibition, 2002. The artist has been honored by being selected to participate in the U.S. Department of State's Art in Embassies Program, where her paintings were on exhibit in the residence of Ambassador John Sullivan in Luanda, Angola for a three year period. The KCBX Central Coast Wine Classic has twice named Ruggles their Featured Artist (1997 and 2000), and her painting entitled Sonoma September was awarded First Prize in Loudoun House Gallery's 1997 The Fine Art of Fine Wine II.

Ruggles' landscapes have received widespread critical praise. Gordon McConnell, juror for Americas 2000 describes a Ruggles landscape submission in his catalog text as "a luscious, summery essay in abstract impressionism". Wilson Wong writing for NY Gallery & Studio described another Ruggles landscape as "darkly sumptuous postmodern approach to painterly abstraction". Archie McLaren, Founder and Executive Director of the KCBX Central Coast Wine Classic credits Ruggles as having" truly captured the essence of Central Coast terroir."