Jael (Jael Brown Ruesch, née Ashton, October 31, 1937 November 17, 2020) was an American artist/illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy art.

Early life

Jael was a busy full-time professional artist/fine artist for fifteen years, when she returned to college to complete a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, while also completing her Secondary Certification in 1973. Afterwards, she taught at several

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

high schools, then taught fine-arts at Clarke College in Las Vegas

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

between 1974 and 1980, while also publishing and completing many private commissions. During the course of her 68 year artistic career, she completed more than 87,000 creations/commissions.

Work

Her works were featured in galleries, calendars, books, magazines, and other publications. She also created her own perceptualistic (a word taken from William Blake's "Doors of Perception") paintings and was known for her beautiful and extremely accurate portraits. She was nominated eight times for the science fiction and fantasy

Chesley Award The Chesley Awards are the "pinnacle award" for art in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, the awards recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a g ...

. Jael continued to produce art and provide on-line art instruction through her website until her death. Having been an artist for nearly 68 years, she created more than 78,000 paintings and images, most of the originals housed in various collections throughout the world.

Personal life

Jael was a native of Utah, and she lived on the East Coast of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the time of her death. She died on November 17, 2020. She was "persistently coy" about her full name, but it is known that her mother was named Muriel Ashton. She received her BFA from the University of Utah in 1973 and later worked at an art instructor, first at high schools and then at Clarke College in Las Vegas, Nevada; she later moved to New Jersey to work as a science-fiction artist. She was married to Greg Ruesch.Jael
in: ''The Encyclopedia of Science-Fiction''(entry updated 12 September 2022)

Publications

*''Perceptualistics'', Paper Tiger, UK, 2002.

Contributions to published art collections

*''The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art Techniques'', Quarto Publishing, 1996. *''Spectrum 3'', ''Spectrum 4'', and ''Spectrum 8'' (semi-annual collections featuring contemporary fantastic art), Zeising Books *''Paper Tiger Fantasy Art Gallery'', Paper Tiger Press, UK, 2002 *Frank Collection, Volume 1 *Frank Collection, Volume 2 *Frank Collection, Volume 3 *''Paint or Pixel, The Digital Divide in Illustration Art'', edited by

Jane Frank Jane Schenthal Frank (born Jane Babette Schenthal; July 25, 1918 – May 31, 1986) was an American multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, illustrator, and textile artist. Her landscape-like, mixed-media ...

, Nonstop Press, New York, 2008 *''Myths and Legends'', Michael Publishing Company, 2015 *''Gods and Goddesses'', Michael Publishing Company, 2016

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jael 1937 births 2020 deaths American women illustrators American illustrators Artists from Utah 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists