User:Ruben Morancy

Ruben Morancy is a self-taught artist who currently lives in Windsor, CA. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Ruben was a hyperactive child and his mother--a talented seamstress, whose passion was Haitian embroidery--encouraged him to draw as a means of focusing his energies and keeping him out of trouble. To calm himself, Ruben drew and painted with water colors, and also built colorful kites.

In 1982, when Ruben was 14, his family moved to the United States. Over the next ten years, Ruben lived in New York City and Philadelphia, until he headed west in 1992, seeking adventure and change.

Having come from a family steeped in food culture, Ruben pursued a career in the food and wine industry. He completed the Culinary Arts program at City College of San Francisco, and then relocated briefly to Los Angeles where he managed a restaurant for two years.

Upon his return to San Francisco, Ruben’s love of fine wines led to a career as a successful wine broker. He and his wife Sarah chose to settle in the heart of wine country, eventually purchasing a home in Windsor in 2006, though Ruben commuted daily to San Francisco where he continued to sell wines to merchants and restaurants. During the weekends, in his quiet, bucolic home, Ruben resumed painting and drawing.

In 2007, Ruben visited the art gallery in Geyserville, CA, and took an opportunity to show his own work to the curator there. The curator quickly agreed to have Ruben present his work at the gallery, where it was extremely well-received.

The following year, Ruben had a one-man show at the Hotel Biron art gallery in San Francisco, entitled “Sweetness & Power.” These paintings were inspired by the book of the same name by Sidney Mintz, about the influence of sugar and coffee in the economic development of European countries and the role of these commodities in the slave trade. Ruben’s exhibit also depicted the slave revolt led by Toussaint Louverture in St. Domingue, Haiti. "Sweetness & Power" was created on burlap canvasses, with ant armies glued to the canvas.

Since then, Ruben’s work has also been featured in the Erin Martin showroom in St. Helena,CA and at the William Ellsworth architecture firm in San Francisco.