About

"My passion is creating art of all forms. My hope is that this passion is evident in my work."


-Ruth A. Douthitt

Artist

Author

Runner

Award-winning artist and author Ruth A. Douthitt has been drawing and writing since an early age. An Arizona native, she first was inspired by her fourth grade teacher to learn more about the fine arts and to make it her life's endeavor.  Later, her high school English teacher entered her poetry into a contest that she won. Her art teacher gave her many challenging class assignments that helped her win two scholarships to study art in college.

She has had a one-woman show in New Bern, North Carolina where she and her husband were stationed with the USMC. It was there that Ruth developed a love of wildlife art and drawing animals. She did "pet portraits" while working at Ballantyne Framing & Art.  She also was able to sell her watercolors there as well. Back in Arizona, she began painting portraits of children. First she started painting friend's kids and pets, but that grew into a business. Her commissions increased thanks to positive "word of mouth" reviews from clients. 

Her clients range from Police officers, lawyers, and Superior court Judges to stay-at-home moms and grandmothers: all wanting realistic portraits of their beloved children or grandchildren. It was around this time that Ruth drafted a story she had in mind ever since her time in North Carolina...a story about dragons.

She completed her B.A. in Visual Arts from ASU and a Masters degree in Education from University of Phoenix. Ruth has taught art at Glendale Community College and is a member of the Arizona Watercolor Association.  She finally had her first book published in 2011, "The Dragon Forest." Since then, she has had several more books released, including the 2017 Moonbeam Children's Book Award Bronze Medal award-winning "The Children" series.  As an award-winning author of books for middle grade readers, Ruth decided to blend her art and her writing. She has illustrated many books: "The White Wolf," "Dragon Games," "Dragon Riders," and "The Road to Home." In 2023, she released her first coloring book! She plans on releasing many more...And, finally after 34 years in the making, she released her first picture book, "Peter and the Dragon Forest," with illustrations by her husband. ​

For three years, Ruth was the president of Christian Writers of the West, the Arizona Chapter of ACFW and continues to teach writing workshops with CWOW as well as the ACFW Virginia chapter.

An avid runner of half marathons, full marathons, and ultra-marathons, she resides in sunny Arizona where she can run all-year round. Ruth lives in AZ with her husband and their little dog, with their adult son living nearby.  When she's not writing, she's probably training for her next race. 

"I have truly enjoyed painting portraits and drawing portraits of my friends' kids and pets. I hope the joy I feel is evident in each painting. It truly is an enjoyable task to try and capture the personality of each child in the painting or the unconditional love of a beloved pet. Now that I am writing and illustrating books, more people can own and enjoy my art forever!"

-Ruth Douthitt   March 2023

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