House of Nektar

The artist and the studio

Meet Ruth, the hands behind the house

House of Nektar is Ruth’s one-person studio in [TOWN], South Africa. She paints watercolours, builds ceramic vessels by hand and is developing her first lighting, all from the same source: the colour and texture of the earth.

Commission a piece See her work
Ruth, in a green jacket, studying ancient ochre rock paintings on a sandstone overhang
Ruth’s hand pressing small clay spikes onto a textured vessel on a turntable
Works in
Watercolour, clay and light
Made by
One maker, start to finish
Based in
[TOWN], South Africa

What she makes, and why

Rock, water, forest and flower. Ruth gathers the colours of a place, then slows them down into paint, clay and light that can live inside a home.

Ruth, House of Nektar

Black and white photo of Ruth leaning against a tall steel sculpture of a bird-like form in a park
Black and white photo of Ruth at her studio bench beside a tall spiked clay vessel

About Ruth

A life led by colour

[Ruth’s story: where she grew up, how she came to art, and any training, study or teachers that shaped her. Two or three sentences in her own words.]

Today she works across three disciplines. Watercolours built up in washes of rose, ochre and gold, often crossed with fine trails of dots. Sculptural vessels, hand-built in clay and finished with spikes, combed lines and bark-like texture. And lighting, taking shape in the studio now.

She calls art the nektar of her life, the thing that feeds everything else. In [YEAR] she gave it a home of its own: House of Nektar.

“Art is the nektar of my life. Everything else grows from it.”

Based in
[TOWN], South Africa
Studio since
[YEAR]
Mediums
Watercolour, ceramics, lighting
Commissions for
Interior designers, architects, hotels and private homes
Delivers to
South Africa and abroad
Training
[Studies, residencies or teachers]

Where the work begins

From the rock face to the wall

West Coast Dreaming began on the coast, up close to folded rock, mineral veins and rust-red strata. Those studies became the colours and lines of the finished painting.

  1. Close-up of coastal rock folded into a peaked arch of rust, gold and pale grey bands
    Study 01

    Folded rock

    Bands of rust, gold and grey, pressed into an arch over thousands of years.

  2. Rock surface with wavy ridges of rust, ochre and gold running through pale grey stone
    Study 02

    Mineral lines

    Ochre and iron running through pale stone, the start of the painting’s flowing lines.

  3. Rough rock texture of grey crust, small dark pebbles and threads of rust
    Study 03

    Surface

    Pitted, crusted texture that comes back in the grain of the paint and the clay.

  4. West Coast Dreaming, an original watercolour of layered rock strata in rose, ochre and sky blue, traced with fine dotted black lines
    The painting

    West Coast Dreaming

    Original watercolour, [size]

  5. Your project can start the same way: with a place, a palette or a material you love.

    Start with your brief

Watercolour, clay and light

Three ways of working, one palette. Every piece is made by hand, and no two are the same.

For interior designers and architects

Why designers work with Ruth

  1. Straight to the maker

    You talk to the person making the piece, from the first mood board to delivery. No studio team in between.

  2. Made for one room

    Paintings, vessel groupings and lighting sized and coloured for your space, palette and brief.

  3. Clear, fixed quotes

    Sketches, colour studies or clay samples first, then a fixed quote, so your client knows where they stand.

  4. Seen as it’s made

    Progress photos along the way, then packed with care and delivered ready to hang or place. Typical lead time is [LEAD TIME].

“[A short quote from a designer, architect or collector Ruth has worked with.]”

[Name] [Studio or project]

Inside the studio

One maker, start to finish. Each piece is made by Ruth, by hand, from colours gathered on the coast and in the forest.

Close-up of a hand-built clay vessel with a finely scratched, bark-like surface in raking sunlight
White everlasting daisies with golden centres against a dark background
Black and white view looking straight up a tall tree trunk into a dense forest canopy
Clear rippled water over golden-brown and blue stones
Detail of a clay vessel’s combed, textured surface on a turntable dusted with clay crumbs
Ruth, barefoot on white sand, reaching up to a towering sea-cave wall

  • Made by hand

    Painted, built and finished by Ruth herself.

  • One of a kind

    Originals and vessels are never repeated.

  • Earth palettes

    Colour taken from rock, water, forest and flower.

  • Studio visits

    [By appointment, or not offered. Confirm with Ruth.]

Let’s make something for your space

Tell Ruth about the room, the palette and the timeline. She replies to every enquiry herself, usually within [X] working days.

Prefer email? ruth@houseofnektar.com

Plans, sizes and mood boards can follow by email.

Commission a piece