Ruth Sanderson

Ruth Sanderson is a Visiting Associate Professor at Hollins University where she founded the summer graduate Certificate in Children's Book Illustration and co-founded the MFA in Children's Book Writing and Illustration, serving as co-director with Amanda Cockrell until 2019. Her office is located in the Wetherill Visual Arts Center.

She graduated from the Paier School of Art in 1974 and received an Honorary Doctorate from the same institution in 2023. With a career spanning close to fifty years, she has illustrated over ninety books for children, many of which she also authored. Her original oil paintings from The Twelve Dancing Princesses are in the permanent collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum, where they were exhibited in a one-woman show in 2014 featuring sixty-four oil paintings from her books.

Her research focuses on retold fairy tales and illustration in children's books, with particular emphasis on visual storytelling techniques for young readers. Her work often features horses and fantasy elements, reflecting her lifelong fascination with these subjects. She has developed a distinctive style blending traditional oil painting techniques with narrative depth that has earned critical acclaim.

Among her notable achievements, she was named a Rise Honoree for A Storm of Horses in 2023 and had three illustrations included in the Eric Carle Museum's 'Horse Tales: Galloping into Children's Books' exhibition. She received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist for her work on A Storm of Horses in 2022.

Ruth currently lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and maintains an active creative practice. She is working on her first YA fantasy novel titled THE MIRROR OF TRUTH and has launched a Substack publication called FAIRY TALES: Mirrors of Truth, where she explores retold fairy tales, myth, metaphor, and re-enchanting our lives.