Ruth Smith Gallery

Ruth Smith Gallery Art gallery and residency in North Tawton, Devon.

So lovely to have another en plein air painter in the house! Come and see what Sandra Lanz Sánchez-Penichet has been wor...
04/08/2026

So lovely to have another en plein air painter in the house! Come and see what Sandra Lanz Sánchez-Penichet has been working on over the course of the residency at her open studio 6-8pm on Saturday 8th August!

We’re excited to have Sandra Lanz Sánchez-Penichet here for the art residency! Sandra was born in Havana, Cuba, and imm...
03/08/2026

We’re excited to have Sandra Lanz Sánchez-Penichet here for the art residency! Sandra was born in Havana, Cuba, and immigrated to the United States at the age of eleven, having been granted political asylum. She now lives and works in Portland, Oregon, USA, and is known for her energetic portraits and figurative oil paintings. Whilst here on the residency Sandra is going out to do lots of painting our surrounding landscape en plein air.

Her work lovingly depicts the unique characteristics of her sitters, and is increasingly concerned with depicting natural environments with the same level of admiration and care. She approaches traditional oil painting with an illustrative sensibility that is rooted in a love of drawing. Her work gives subtle nods to the Arts and Crafts movement, which used motifs from nature to critique the impact of industry and technological advancement on human values.

Sandra will be having an Open Studio 6-8pm on Saturday 8th August to share the work she has been painting whilst here. We hope you can come!

Thank you to everyone who came to the workshop this weekend, and a special thanks to Erica Kaminishi for facilitating it...
23/07/2026

Thank you to everyone who came to the workshop this weekend, and a special thanks to Erica Kaminishi for facilitating it! 🙏🤗

We are really excited to welcome Erica Kaminishi to the Ruth Smith Gallery Art Residency! Erica is here for one week onl...
13/07/2026

We are really excited to welcome Erica Kaminishi to the Ruth Smith Gallery Art Residency! Erica is here for one week only so don't miss the chance to see her drawings in the gallery window. Erica is also offering a free workshop at the gallery, 10.30am on Saturday 18th for adults and children, making plankton-inspired colourful sculptural drawings. Phone or message 07810590954 if you'd like to sign up!

Erica Kaminishi
Artist in Residence
Ruth Smith Gallery
11th -18th July 2026

Erica is a Japanese-Brazilian artist living and working between France and Brazil. Her work plays with the contrast between organic forms and artificial aesthetics, often drawing on Baroque motifs and Japanese culture. Working in various media, Erica creates drawings such as these as well as large scale art installations.

Erica is offering a free workshop at the gallery at 10.30 on Saturday 18th to create colourful plankton-like sculptural drawings. Message or phone Ruth on 07810 590 954 if you would like to sign up!

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the exhibition opening on Friday for Rob's exhibition 'Under the Same Sky'. It...
15/06/2026

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the exhibition opening on Friday for Rob's exhibition 'Under the Same Sky'. It was a squeeze! Thank you too to everyone who purchased work, it keeps us all going 🤗 Exhibition continues until Friday 26th June.

Rob Harris

Enjoyed putting together this dense hang of wildlife photography in the gallery last night! Come tonight 6-8pm Friday 12...
12/06/2026

Enjoyed putting together this dense hang of wildlife photography in the gallery last night! Come tonight 6-8pm Friday 12th June for the opening of Rob Harris' exhibition 'Under the Same Sky'.

'Under The Same Sky' is a collection of photographs by Rob Harris that celebrates the richness and quiet dignity of the wildlife with whom we share this planet. Through intimate and often striking imagery, the work invites us to pause and reconsider our place within the natural world—not as observers standing apart, but as participants within a vast, interconnected system.

These photographs serve as a reminder of the extraordinary diversity of life on Earth. Each species, no matter how small or seemingly distant, plays a role in maintaining the delicate balance that sustains us all. By presenting animals not as curiosities or “others,” but as fellow inhabitants, the collection challenges us to recognise a shared existence—one in which every life is shaped by the same environmental forces and vulnerabilities.

Every image captures a moment in an unfiltered world: a life lived without the buffers and protections that humans so often construct for themselves. Each creature is portrayed with its own character, resilience, and beauty, yet also with an underlying fragility. These lives unfold under constant pressure—from climate change, from shrinking habitats, from the presence of predators, and increasingly, from human encroachment.

While humanity builds walls, borders, and shelters in an attempt to control and define space, the sky above remains unchanged—an ever-present, unifying expanse that belongs equally to all living beings. It is a quiet but powerful symbol of our shared reality. Beneath it, the relationship between humans and nature is revealed as both profound and precarious: a balance that demands awareness, respect, and care.

In essence, Under the Same Sky is both a celebration of wildlife and a gentle invitation to reflect on our shared existence with the natural world. It encourages us to look more closely, to feel more deeply, and to recognise that the fate of every species—including our own—is inseparably linked under the same sky.

- Rob Harris

Last couple of days to see my paintings in the gallery before they come down on Thursday evening to make way for Rob Har...
10/06/2026

Last couple of days to see my paintings in the gallery before they come down on Thursday evening to make way for Rob Harris' photography exhibition 'Under the Same Sky' opening on Friday 6-8pm. A catalogue of my work can be found on the website.

Really looking forward to installing this next week. An exhibition of wildlife photography by Rob Harris, bringing toget...
04/06/2026

Really looking forward to installing this next week. An exhibition of wildlife photography by Rob Harris, bringing together images from his travels across the globe, all 'Under the Same Sky'.

Opening 6-8pm Friday 12th June! Everybody welcome!

Under The Same Sky is a collection of photographs by Rob Harris that celebrates the richness and quiet dignity of the wildlife with whom we share this planet. Through intimate and often striking imagery, the work invites us to pause and reconsider our place within the natural world—not as observers standing apart, but as participants within a vast, interconnected system.

These photographs serve as a reminder of the extraordinary diversity of life on Earth. Each species, no matter how small or seemingly distant, plays a role in maintaining the delicate balance that sustains us all. By presenting animals not as curiosities or “others,” but as fellow inhabitants, the collection challenges us to recognise a shared existence—one in which every life is shaped by the same environmental forces and vulnerabilities.

Every image captures a moment in an unfiltered world: a life lived without the buffers and protections that humans so often construct for themselves. Each creature is portrayed with its own character, resilience, and beauty, yet also with an underlying fragility. These lives unfold under constant pressure—from climate change, from shrinking habitats, from the presence of predators, and increasingly, from human encroachment.

While humanity builds walls, borders, and shelters in an attempt to control and define space, the sky above remains unchanged—an ever-present, unifying expanse that belongs equally to all living beings. It is a quiet but powerful symbol of our shared reality. Beneath it, the relationship between humans and nature is revealed as both profound and precarious: a balance that demands awareness, respect, and care.

In essence, Under the Same Sky is both a celebration of wildlife and a gentle invitation to reflect on our shared existence with the natural world. It encourages us to look more closely, to feel more deeply, and to recognise that the fate of every species—including our own—is inseparably linked under the same sky.

- Rob Harris

Nice to put some of my own work on the walls while there's a gap in the exhibition /residency programme. These oil paint...
20/05/2026

Nice to put some of my own work on the walls while there's a gap in the exhibition /residency programme. These oil paintings range from £240, £350 and £775, and £1200 for the very big canvas. Giclee prints also available on request. Come and see it all while it's up until 11th June! 😀🖼️💚🌳

Exhibition opening tonight! Green and Pleasant LandDamon Kowarsky18th – 22nd April 2026Opening 6.30-8.30 Saturday 18th A...
18/04/2026

Exhibition opening tonight!

Green and Pleasant Land
Damon Kowarsky
18th – 22nd April 2026
Opening 6.30-8.30 Saturday 18th April

has returned from Australia for another art residency at Ruth Smith Gallery! Damon came last year and made drawings of North Tawton, Tavistock, Exeter and the surrounding areas, then returned home to develop them into etched prints, and has come back to show the work.

Come to see this landscape through new eyes, with big skies and houses peeping over the brows of hills, big stretches of grass and long hedgerows, and houses stacked one on top of the other for as far as the eye can see.

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5 The Square
North Tawton
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