Ruth Helen Ives was born in 1914 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and then worked in New York as a free lance magazine illustrator. After World War 2, she returned to California where she illustrated many children’s books and was integral in creating the first primary readers depicting children from many ethnicities, a first small step toward future diversity. She also drew beautiful and intricate black pen and ink drawings depicting the charm and nostalgia of other times. After retirement, she transitioned to fine painting creating over 40 delightfully gorgeous canvasses.