Rebecca Ruegger has bruises on her knees.

That’s because the artist from Thompson Station always paints with her canvas or paper on the ground. “I seem to get a better distance when I’m sitting on my knees, than when I’m at a table,” explains Ruegger. “It’s helped me to keep in mind the overall picture and theme, instead of getting stuck on details.”

A gallery takes a chance

Ironically, it is the fine points that first drew Belle Meade's Gallery One owner, Shelley Liles, to Ruegger's work. "Rebecca is an extremely talented and versatile artist," says Liles. "It amazes me that she can move from these very eccentric, quirky, figurative, mixed media paintings to tliese beautiful, highly atmospheric landscapes. They both, however, share a certain quality and attention to detail."

Liles discovered Ruegger's work at a local art show about three years ago, and the artist's paintings have been a fixture at Gallery One ever since. "It stood out among everything else I was looking at as being totally unique," Liles continues. "As a gallery owner, you want to find an artist who speaks with a distinctive voice. That's what Rebecca does."

Another lifetime

What Rebecca doesn't do is illustrations. Anymore that is, although it is commercial work that set her on the road to her current success. Her images were used for 15 years by major corporations — heavyweights like American Express, Proctor & Gamble and American Airlines - in their ads and annual reports.

Quite an accomplishment for someone with absolutely no formal training. "I made my first portfolio by gathering some photographs of work that I had done," says Ruegger. "I glued them on colored paper and knocked on peoples' doors and said, 'I'm an illustrator!' Somebody believed me and gave me a job, and it just sort of grew from there."

But that was a lifetime ago. Ruegger grew tired of the deadline pressure, and the limiting subject matter. She recalls, "I was always doing businessmen and businesswomen, doctors and lawyers and computers. That's just not my world. So I'm really grateful that I have the chance to just paint now. I wanted to do fine art ever since I started my work life."

Location, location

Fortunately, Ruegger has finally found her "world." She lives on an expansive farm with her husband, Werner Ruegger, who moved to this country from Switzerland in the 80s. They board a couple of horses, and the painter has the loyal companionship of two dogs and two cats. "Our house is in a very secluded spot, and we can't see anybody from where I am," says Ruegger. "I love to be alone, and sit there and paint all day.

"It's where I want to be. I love the hummingbirds, the lightning bugs and the deer that walk across the field. To the dismay of my friends and family, I don't use my air conditioning in the summertime. I want to hear the crickets and cicadas and the birds singing — the sounds as well as the visuals out there."

Summer Morning, 10 x 10, oil on panel, private collection

However, Grace, is one painting whose name does hold a special meaning for Ruegger. It's one of the earliest large figurative pieces she did when firsr transitioning to fine art. "It's about a person I met who taught me the meaning of that word," says Ruegger. "It was a gift that came out of nowhere, because I was going through some difficulties at the time. It was a concept I wasn't familiar with in my life." The figure in Grace, like most of her human depictions, is painted eerily out of proportion. There are frequently petite heads and pencil-thin arms peeking out from larger, sometimes elongated bodies, sporting oversized coats and dresses - and sometimes wings. "The great thing about doing imaginary work is that it doesn't have to be based on reality," Ruegger says. "Something that's perfectly made and formed is not as interesting to me as something that's maybe a little crooked, or a little off."

Like "walking into a dream"

For Liles, "a little off" fits right in at her place. "The work I feature is quite broad and eclectic. To me they all share a certain aesthetic — a mysterious and ethereal quality. That's certainly the case with Rebecca's art. Her work is almost transcendent. It takes me to another place, or like I'm walking into a dream."

That surreal aspect is especially apparent in Ruegger's muted landscapes, and in the ghostly, nebulous backgrounds that frame her figures. Ruegger believes, "there's a lot in life that is unclear, or not explained. I feel like you can spend more time with a piece of art when it's not all hard and defined. I like there to be places where someone might have to use their imagination to fill in the ambiguities."

Finders keepers

To create her figurative pieces, Ruegger first puts down a layer of watercolor, then a little bit of gouache, then any everyday items that might eventually become part of one of her character's clothing. She began using found objects three years ago, when she integrated feathers from a bird that had been hit by a car - as a way to immortalize the fallen creature. "Then I thought if I could put feathers on, surely there are other things I could use too," recalls Ruegger. "So I just keep a little box of things that I think are interesting - like string or lace or thread, pieces of nice paper - and just use them as I see fit."

Lastly, she takes her pastels, grinds them into powder, and uses her paint brush to apply the particles, producing the enigmatic effect that characterizes many of her compositions. According to the artist, her "M.O." is to concentrate on her watercolor portraits for several months, then switch to her oil landscapes. "I have to kind of shift gears, because they're two completely different mediums and different subject matters. I hope to eventually be able to incorporate more landscape into the watercolor figurative pieces, and figures into the oil pieces."

Sticker barnches, 20 x 23, mixed media on paper, private collection

In the recent past, Ruegger discarded 70-80 percent of what she did. "I used to get so mad I'd tear them up or cut them into pieces, and have bonfires with the work I was most frustrated with. Now I save them, and put them on a shelf, and re-visit them after a few months."

She's hardest on herself when she considers how many years she may have lost making ends meet in the commercial art market. "I regret that I didn't get to start earlier. I feel like I could be so much further down the road. I really try not to think about what didn't get done in the last 20 years. I'm just trying to get the very best out of myself right now."

In mid-January, Gallery One will feature Ruegger's works on paper, along with the art of Lori-Gene of Atlanta and John Borden Evans of Charlottesville, Virginia. For more information about Ruegger's work or Gallery One visit http://www.galleryone.biz