Ruth was born in Namibia. For the first 32 years of her life the Namib desert was the landscape that surrounded her. Sand, sea and sky was the subject of her early work. After matriculating from the Johannesburg School of Art , Ballet and Music Ruth continued her pursuit of painting skills. She attended classes with Christine Marais and Nicholas Galloway in Swakopmund and learned to paint in water color. In 1988 Ruth moved to Gauteng with her husband. While raising a family she painted, taught art and enrolled at UNISA to study fine art, all in an attempt to keep doing what she loved doing; painting. While living in Gauteng Ruth started experimenting with mixed medium, acrylic painting and ceramics. In 2011 Ruth started painting in oils.