The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara will present RUTH LEAF, Printmaker (1923-2015): Selected Works, an exhibit of etchings and woodcuts inspired by nature, March 23-May 18 at 229 E. Victoria St.

A hand-colored etching by Ruth Leaf, titled 'Red Flowers,' shows a field of green and yellow with bright red, orange blossoms in the foreground. (Ruth Leaf)
A hand-colored etching by Ruth Leaf, titled ‘Red Flowers,’ is 15-by-18 inches in size. (Ruth Leaf)

The show will open with at reception, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, March 23 at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara.

Leaf’s granddaughters, Mia Casino and Becky Waitz, are presenting prints from their personal collection for the exhibit.

Ruth Leaf, who was born in New York City, dedicated her life to printmaking, creating groundbreaking and diverse art from her teen years until her death at the age of 92.

Her early works were etchings, linocuts and woodcuts depicting landscapes and people.

Artist/teacher Paul Margin said Leaf was “able to create an atmosphere of anticipation, impending action, and the feeling of possible horror” in her work.

Leaf earned numerous awards, including the Purchase Award of the Library of Congress for her etching, “Tears.”

In the 1970s, when Leaf became fascinated by the “shapes, shadows, and colors found in nature,” she produced landscape etchings that express and celebrate the “accidental beauty” and “mystical quality” of nature.

After moving to Venice, California, in 1998, Leaf experimented with monoprints, papermaking, metal sculpture, and digital art.


“My early work was concerned with people and their environments done in an expressionistic manner,” Leaf said in 1987. “Through the many years of printmaking, I became involved with space, color, and shape.

“I found, by using the forms in landscape, I was able to abstract what I saw into more exciting dimensions of color and design than realism would permit. It also allowed me to combine what I saw with how I felt,” 


Leaf was also a teacher and author. She believed that teaching extended her creativity and allowed her to stretch her knowledge and to problem solve. Her book “Intaglio Printmaking Techniques” became a key manual for printmakers across the U.S. and is used widely today.