BIOGRAPHY

Ruth Swain is an award-winning figurative, portrait and still-life artist based in Oxfordshire. She works in oil, watercolour and pastel.
Ruths paintings have a twist of humour and her portraits not only tell a story, but show the emotional bond between subject and sitter.
Swain graduated from The Art Academy London in December 2020 with a degree in Contemporary Portraiture. She previously worked in London, Hong Kong and New York as an advertising art director and illustrator. She brings this influence into her paintings by using visual ideas, and a little surrealism, she hopes to get a wry smile when you look at her work.

Her recent achievements include 5 paintings in the Women in Art Fair curated by @Virginia Damtsa at The Mall Galleries, The Ing Discerning eye 2024, The RI, The Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2023, A finalist in The British Art Prize Award in Artists and Illustrators magazine (Top 50 artists)and exhibited in The John Ruskin prize 2024.

Ruth teaches at Sunningwell School of Art, she is a member of Oxford Art Society, and had her first duo show in 2023 at ronapainting gallery, Oxford. Ruth was also a contestant on Sky portrait artist of the year in 2021.

Ruth exhibited paintings in Provence with NG arts in June 2025.

In October 2025 Ruth joined forces with Paul Starns and had an exhibition at The Art Academy London. The exhibition was called "Facing the Future" and consisted of 16 portraits of people involved with breast cancer. The exhibition moved to Oxted in Kent then on to St Johns College, Oxford in February 2026. The exhibition was also used to raise funds and with the help of Mary Modha ( Breast Cancer Now ) and Claire Calderwood (3i) we made £138,000 for the charity 'Breast Cancer Now.'

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And Instagram: instagram.com/ruth_swainart