John Ruseau loves drawing and painting. You can see it in his work, the sharp shadows, the rich colors, the simple, strong compositions, the complexity of the details. They developed in large part from his early training as an architect brought up in the Beaux Art tradition where there was a strong emphasis on drawing and painting techniques. As a young architect in the 50's in New York and Florida he was sought after as a specialist in architectural rendering. In time he left the business of architecture joining the University of Virginia's faculty in 1961, where he taught graphic design and watercolor rendering for 32 years.

He helped students to see , to really see, create and communicate visually. During these summers he sailed and painted all along the Atlantic coast with an occasional summer in Europe touring on his motorcycle. This is when he started painting the smaller paintings, to fit in his saddlebags.

Eventually it was Sandy, his wife, now of four years, who encouraged John to retire from teaching in 1994, at 65, and focus on his art full time.

It was Sandy who quit her job and sailed north to Block Island, Rhode Island, with John and lived on their small sailboat while opening a gallery for his paintings.


With the success of the Block Island gallery came the opening of a second gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Now the over 2500 original paintings that he accumulated during those 30 summers have been purchased by collectors in these last four years.