Ruth Gowell has been weaving since her apprenticeship in Denmark in 1970. In 1978 she began exploring the possibilities of warp face weave with very fine rayon - an exploration that continues to this day. She works both in small scale (10" x 10") and on larger weavings. The small scale weavings are done on a narrow warp (11" wide) and 9 yards long. Fifteen to twenty weavings are produced from each warp. She dyes viscose rayon with fiber reactive dyes in color progressions; these progressions usually involve 20 or more colors between the two end colors. Each color shift becomes a layer of warp, and currently 5 layers of warp are used in each series of weavings. Often one of these layers will be a metallic yarn, and layers of black and white rayon are also common in her work.

Once the warp is on the loom she plays with many techniques to produce the weavings. Because the technique is warp face, the weft (yarn or material that is woven in between the warp layers) is not visible, and she can therefore use many different materials which will not be visible except as a shape or texture. She often uses acetate (or paper, or mylar, or combinations of the three) cut into large shapes and woven between the layers to define shapes. Twisted electrical cord and solid plastic rods are also used to create texture. Some weavings in each Series are beaded onto fabric and embellished with additional beading. Each weaving is signed with a Series number (which is the number of the warp that year - each year begins again with Series I) and a piece number which denotes the number within that Series, as well as the year.

Large scale weavings are also produced using the technique of warp face weave. Some are 2 layers of warp and others use 3 or 4 layers. She often uses a technique where twisted electrical cord is used as the weft. Sometimes the electrical cord is twisted in areas, and flat in others, and this gives design with contrasts in color as well as texture. Recent work has involved the stuffing and quilting of the weavings to produce three dimensional work.

A workshop in fused glass in 1999 led to the purchase of a kiln and an exploration of the technique of fused glass. An immediate love of iridized glass and the possibilities of pattern and texture have resulted in the development of platters and bowls which continue her exploration of color interaction, color gradation, pattern and texture.