Ginny Ruffner: Not So Still

I like to be aware of everything.

Creativity comes from awareness.

~ Artist Ginny Ruffner*

Renowned glass artist Ginny Ruffner of Seattle, Washington, is a model both of reinvention and inspiration. More than two decades ago, Ruffner was in a three-car accident that left her in a coma for five weeks. Even after she rallied, she was not expected to walk or talk again. Though she was hospitalized five months and had to use a wheelchair for five years, Ruffner beat the odds against her — she says the "bull-headed part" of her was "not damaged" — and returned to her artmaking (she paints, draws, and sculpts also) with the help of an artistic team. 

Ruffner, born in 1952 in Atlanta, Georgia, is the subject of the full-length documentary A Not So Still Life from director Karen Stanton and producer Tom Gorai. The film traces Ruffner's life beginning with her childhood in South Carolina and concluding with her reclamation of her highly creative artistic career. 

. . . art is made from inside you. It's the most truly human thing

you can do. It's interesting how you create your reality by what

you believe. If you believe it's real, it is real. . . .

Here's a sneak peek at the award-winning 84-minute documentary, which includes interviews with Tom Robbins, Graham Nash, and Dale Chihuly:

"a not so still life" teaser from ShadowCatcher on Vimeo.

In a video interview here, Rufffner speaks about her accident and remarkable life and artistry.

Work by Ruffner is in many public collections worldwide, including those of Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (New York), Corning Museum of Glass (New York), Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (Japan), Kunstmuseum (Germany), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Seattle Art Museum (Washington), and Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.).

A Not So Still Life on FaceBook 

A Not So Still Life DVD

Ginny Ruffner at Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, D.C. (You'll find images of current work here.)

* Quoted from "Seattle Artist Ginny Ruffner's Garden Is a Party", Seattle Times Newspaper, December 3, 2011