About the Artist

Pamela is best known for her bold and vibrant oil portraits of barnyard animals including cows, roosters and sheep.  Collectors say her paintings capture the personality of these furry and feathered friends.

 

She grew up on a dairy farm outside of Blanchardville, WI.  As a young child, she fed pigs and chickens as part of her daily chores and even helped raise orphan piglets under the warmth of a heating lamp.  As she grew older, milking the cows and helping with crop harvest became part of her everyday life.  Needless to say, agriculture and the love of animals is in her heart.  She never imagined as a young child that these experiences on the farm would play such an important role in her painting career.

 

After more than a decade in the agricultural advertising industry, painting Wisconsin's landscape and livestock became her passion.  She uses both the alla prima method (painting all at once) and plein air (outdoors) to influence her larger studio work.  Pamela adds, "Painting from life is such an important part of my process to provide critical information for my art.  Supplementing this with photography is sometimes necessary because it's very difficult to tell a rambunctious rooster to hold a pose."

 

Drawing on her love of Wisconsin's seasons, Pamela especially enjoys painting outdoors during the winter months.  It's a quiet season, which suits her personality.  Pamela says, "Just as for humans, winter is a fact of life for animals living in the frozen tundra.  In winter, the warm hues of the livestock are offset nicely by the cool background of nature, especially during a snowfall."  

 

Pamela has studied with master artists including Daniel Gerhartz, Stapleton Kearns and Lori Beringer.  Often you will find Pamela driving down country roads searching for that next inspiration or setting up her easel with some friendly Wisconsin cows.

 

Community involvement is also important as she volunteers for various organizations, currently serving on the Board of Directors at the Cedarburg Art Museum and Jonathan Clark House Museum.  She is past president of the Cedarburg Artists Guild.

 

To learn more about my business approach to art and inspirations along the way, listen to this fun podcast with Caroline Italia.

https://www.carolineitalia.com/episode48/

 

To watch a recent TV segment from The Arts Page about my paintings and passion for Wisconsin, please click this link-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIYS1y6XSbY

 

Or google Pamela Ruschman, The Arts Page PBS Milwaukee

 

Recent News/Awards/Major Exhibits:

 

2024:

 

Spring Art Tour (Mt. Horeb area studio tour)

Monroe Arts Center Glacial Edge Artists Exhibit

Judge, Wisconsin State Fair Plein Air

Mineral Point (WI) Plein Air Event

Art in the Park (New Glarus, WI) demonstration artist

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour (Cedarburg, WI)

Art*Bar Mini Exhibit

 

2023:

 

Spring Art Studio Tour

"The Dancing Landscape" Oconomowoc Art Center

Judge, Wisconsin State Fair Plein Air

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

Art*Bar Mini Exhibit, Milwaukee, WI

 

2022:

 

"The Eye as Image" Mandelbaum & Albert Family Vision Gallery, UW-Madison

Spring Art Studio Tour

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

New Glarus (WI) Library Solo Exhibit

Judge, Paint the Point Plein Air Event, Mineral Point, WI

Art*Bar, Mini Exhibit, Milwaukee, WI

 

2021:

"America's Dairyland" solo exhibition, Monroe (WI) Arts Center

"The Passionate Painter" podcast featured artist interview

Boldbrush Painting Competition, March FAV 15%

Spring Art Studio Tour

"Home is where the ART is" group exhibition, Driftless Historium Museum, Mt. Horeb (WI)

 

2020:

Cedarburg Art Museum (WI) Annual Juried Exhibit

6" Squared Randy Higbee Juried Exhibit

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

 

2019:

Boldbrush Painting Competition, November 2019 FAV 15%

Boldbrush Painting Competition, May 2019 FAV 15%

Honorable Mention, Cedarburg Art Museum Juried Exhibit, Cedarburg (WI)

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

 

2018:

Group exhibit, Gallery of Wisconsin Art, West Bend (WI)

Taliesin Plein Air Invitational Artist, Spring Green (WI)

Cedarburg Art Museum Juried Exhibit, Cedarburg (WI)

Two-person exhibit, Natural Wonders, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Bayside (WI)

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

 

2017:

Two-person exhibit, Painting the Winter Muse, Cedarburg (WI) Art Museum

Wisconsin Collection Featured Artist, 2017 Milwaukee Public TV Auction

Featured in "Art from the Heart", The Arts Page TV Program, Milwaukee (WI)

Group exhibit, The Pfister Hotel Pop-Up Gallery, Milwaukee (WI)

Group exhibit, "Artists at Work" Grohmann Museum, Milwaukee (WI)

Judge, Wisconsin State Fair Plein Air

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

 

 2016:

2nd Place, Our Everyday Life, statewide juried exhibit, Cedarburg Art Museum

Honorable Mention, Cedarburg (WI) Plein Air Event

Judge, Wisconsin State Fair Plein Air

Judge, Milwaukee Museum Mile Plein Air

Article in Plein Air Magazine Collector, March 2016, "Field to Finish"

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

 

2015:

Honorable Mention Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Annual Exhibit

Featured Artist, Plein Air Magazine Collector, Feb. 2015, "Not Idle in Winter"

2nd Place 2015 "The Little Show" Cedarburg (WI) Cultural Center

Museum of Wisconsin Art (West Bend WI) Juried Exhibit, Cedarburg Artists Guild

Cedarburg Art Museum (Cedarburg, WI) Juried Exhibit, Festive Wisconsin

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour

 

2012:

1st Place Port Washington (WI) Plein Air Paint Out

Honorable Mention Cedarburg (WI) Plein Air Competition

Honorable Mention Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Annual Exhibit

Honorable Mention Artbar Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Exhibit

 

2010 & 2011:

1st Place 2010 "The Little Show" Cedarburg (WI) Cultural Center

2nd Place 2011 Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Annual Exhibit

Honorable Mention 2010 Cedarburg (WI) Plein Air Painting Competition