She was friends with Jasper Johns and Franz Kline.
She was romantically involved with artist, Willem De Kooning and inspired his painting, "Ruth's Zowie." She was also involved with Jackson Pollock at the time of his death.
She survived the fatal automobile accident which killed artist, Jackson Pollock, and her friend, Edith Metzger.
She lived briefly in Ibiza, Spain and on and off in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
She studied art at the Art Students League, the New School for Social Research, and New York University all in New York City.