2004 Artist of the Year

Artist Gives Hope to Those Touched by Cancer

HOPE was added to the Wings Cancer Foundation permanent collection of artwork. It was painted by Colin Ruthven to honor those who have been touched by cancer and celebrate those who make it possible for support to be available to them at no charge.

Ruthven, though born in Sweet Grass, Montana, grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The predominantly self taught artist was tutored briefly by the curator of the Vancouver Gallery. He feels that drawing and flying are his natural talents. He returned to the United States in 1954 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Shortly after, he was selected to enter flight training as a Naval Aviation Cadet. His rich history includes two tours in Vietnam as a fighter pilot flying over four hundred missions. He comments that he often wonders how he could have been trained to do something so well that was not native to his soul. Lt. Colonel Colin Ruthven retired and moved to Memphis in 1974. He quickly entered the art community becoming the art director at several advertising agencies and the president of a few.

The most interesting time of his life was the sixteen years he served as Art Director / Illustrator for the Commercial Appeal. He was part of the transformation from diminished usage of illustration to immergence of graphics and photography as USA Today made its way into the arena

His passions are drawing, writing, painting and photography stating that they all come from the same place. "Exploration feeds my spirit and allows me the freedom to express". Colin and wife Alice, a writer, have been married for 16 years and reside in the Memphis area.

Though cancer has impaired his eyesight, Ruthven sees clearly and shares his vision. "Life is constantly presenting itself as ‘new' in the present moment. Although we are the sum of what has happened in our lives, there is always the hope that we can step away from the old and give ourselves over to the new. So much of our lives is anchored in the past and there is the possibility of being limited by it, if we allow this to happen. To give ourselves over to the new moment we allow ourselves to be available to all possibilities. The older tree in the background represents the past; the new tree in the foreground represents the ever present ‘now' where, in reality, we always are."

http://www.colinruthven.com/