Joke Frima is a painter originally from the Netherlands now working and living in France. Her highly refined paintings often are of close views of fruits, flowers, gourds and other plants in their natural state, sort of intimate landscapes or living still life.

She also paints more formal still life subjects as well as more traditional landscapes. Her website features galleries of recent work, drawings, and archives of a number of subjects. The basic site is in Dutch, but you can choose a language from the drop-down at upper right of the page.

I’m not certain how her first name is pronounced, but my best guess would be somethng like “yo-kay”. In addition to her website, her work is featured on the Art Renewal Center website as one of their “Living Master” artists.

Kathy Ruck is a painter based in Chester County in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Chester County — as the locals will proudly tell you — is “Wyeth County” and Ruck finds inspiration not only in the work of the Wyeth family, but in the countryside in which they also found many of their subjects.

A number of her pieces are dramatically horizontal, even “cinematic” in their aspect ratio, a format that I find appealing and one that is well suited to her subjects.

I particularly enjoy her portrayals of old trees with interesting shapes and lots of character, and her use of texture and value.

Ruck works in watercolor and ocassionally gouache and is a signature member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society.

She is also a member of the “The Studio Group”, a group of women artists who maintain and exhibit in the Howard Pyle Studio, where influential painter, teacher and illustrator Howard Pyle worked and instructed many of America’s most revered illustrators, including N.C. Wyeth.

It was at a gallery opening at the studio that I had a chance to talk with her briefly and where I have seen a number of her originals over time.

Ruck’s website features galleries of originals, smaller works, and prints.