A Moray pupil has become the youngest artist to feature at a prestigious national art exhibition.
Ruby Mitcham, who attends Gordonstoun School, only celebrated her 17th birthday in September and is already regarded as one of the most talented young artists in the UK.
Despite only having oil painted for two years, a portrait of her bestfriend and roommate Iona Watters is currently being showcased at the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) annual exhibition, taking place at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA).
Ruby met Iona in year nine and the pair instantly became best friends.
Now, the pair are in year 12 and choose to be roommates every year.
The teenager, who is originally from Edinburgh, told the Press and Journal: “We met on the first day of Year Nine.
“We had a choreographed dance routine within the first five minutes of meeting each other.
“The two of us hit it off instantly.”
This isn’t the first portrait of Iona that Ruby has created – in fact, Iona has said she is usually the subject ‘partially out of convenience’ as they’re always together.
The duo are also both a part of the school’s latest production – Peter Pan.
Despite Ruby always having loved “making things”, Ruby’s passion for art began to flourish two years ago when she says she realised she could paint.
Portrait lands in prestigious Edinburgh exhibition
Ruby’s painting called ‘A Scottish Lass’ – a portrait of Iona – was one of just over 200 works selected by the SSA from more than 2,000 entries.
“Part of the reason I wanted to paint Iona is because she is so graceful,” she explained.
“We’ve done most dance shows together, and I just wanted to capture that grace and elegance.”
Since it was founded in 1891, the SSA has exhibited work from artists including Picasso, Munch and Paul Klee.
When Ruby was first told her painting was in the exhibition, she couldn’t believe it.
She added: “When I first found out it was in the exhibition, because everything had been so chaotic beforehand with my artwork blowing up, I don’t think the full gravity of it came across yet.
“When I went to Edinburgh and actually saw it with Iona, I realised ‘I’ve grown up here and now I’m in this exhibition.'”
Meanwhile, Iona said it was ‘surreal’ to see a painting of herself in the exhibition.
“It felt pretty surreal to see the portrait in the gallery,” she said.
Ruby Mitcham’s talents in music and art
Ruby joined the school in Year Nine on a music scholarship – she plays the violin and sings as a soprano.
Her accolades include recently winning the Fleming-Wyfold Young Person’s Art Competition for a portrait of a girl who is a drummer in the school pipe band.
The 17-year-old is now in the first year of a two-year senior art scholarship at Gordonstoun.
Art teacher, Wendi Van-Hoof said: “Ruby is a fantastic artist who has truly honed her craft over the past two years at Gordonstoun.”
Parents ‘in awe’ of Ruby’s artwork
Ruby and her family had no idea she had such a talent until she first painted a portrait of her father, Damian, aged just 15 years.
Her mother, Joanna, said: “Ruby has always been creative but we were totally taken aback when she produced her first oil painting at 15.
“It was a super portrait of her dad, really showing his personality and her talent.
“Ruby is a very harsh critic of herself, but we are a bit in awe of how far she has come in such a short period of time.”
Conversation