RUTH PUMPHREY (1942 - 2019) was an artist and journalist based in the American Pacific Northwest. Working predominately with painted and burnished ceramics, Pumphrey’s sculptural practice emphasized organic and undulating forms. Pumphrey spent several years in the 1970s living on a houseboat off the coast of Fir Island and in the La Conner region, where she embraced the counter-culture wave of “dropping out” from society and delving deeper into nature. A protégé of the infamous Northwest “mystic” artist, Clayton James, Pumphrey was also influenced by the work of Barbara Hepworth, Jean Arp, and Henry Moore, as well as by ancient Aztec sculpture and Inuit design.

Pumphrey spent most of her life living in Seattle and was a trailblazer for women working in journalism. Alongside creating art at her home studio, Pumphrey excelled in her career working for news outlets such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and King TV in Seattle.

(Photo Credit: Clemens Kois; Source: The Seattle Times + La Conner Weekly)