Kathmandu, March 15 -- Walking along the road, Ruth often stops to speak with strangers. She is not waiting for anyone. She simply notices a face that seems to hold a story, and for her, that is reason enough to pause. She takes out her sketchbook, and within days, she returns with a finished portrait, handing it to the stranger as a gift, freely given, with no strings attached.

This is how Ruth works. In a way, it is also how she became an artist, through an unexpected encounter, a story she could not ignore, and a sudden need to put paint to canvas before the feeling slipped away. Ruth did not grow up thinking art would shape her future. In the United States, she was studying computer science and mapping out her life through lines of c...