A REAL BIG MIX

MIXED MEDIA ON HANDMADE PAPER

ADVANCED 3-D ART

handmade paper, vintage  dyed fabrics, machine & hand stitch, pencil, watercolor & handspun yarn

A lot of ingredients went in to this piece inspired by the works of British Artist

Deeann Rieves.

I found her on Face Book a few years ago and very much liked what she was doing at the time,

so I purchased one of her pieces.

Note: if you go to her website now she has moved in a different direction.

Anyways,

I brought the piece into my classroom last year for my students to see

 and both seniors Shreya and Jacq loved her work.

So I asked if they would like to try something similar on one of the larger handmade papers

 they were pulling at the time.

YES!!

Here are the results.

This first one was done by Jacqueline Yu.

I especially like the machine stitching she did,

and how her non-objective subject looks a bit like a cross.

or maybe a witch's profile.

And next is Shreya Sheth.

I don't know if you can see that the texture of each of their handmade papers is a bit different,

but Jacq's is smooth and Shreya's textural.

Both girls had cool deckled edges on their paper 

and of course I loved that Shreya incorporated a bit of her hand spun yarn.

Fed Ex - Shipping Isn't What it Used to Be

I'm constantly on the look-out for new artists and ideas for my students.  Two recent new finds are Art Propelled.  It features artist Robyn Gordon, a wood carver from KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.  And thru her blog I discovered Deeann Rieves.  Deeann was having a sale of several of her works, and I purchased the piece below. 

Now mind you, shipping and handing on a piece this large is astronomical.  Thank goodness Deeann packed it as well as she did because above is how Fed Ex delivered it to my door.  I think I should get my money back from them.  This is the second time in a month that something has arrived from Fed Ex in this condition.  Shameful!

Deeann's work is right up my alley.  She combines all the media I love; watercolor, vintage fabrics, and stitching.  Please take the time to visit her site.  My camera does not do her work justice.

"Deeann Rieves received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Memphis College of Art in December 2007 with an emphasis on painting.  She works full time in her studio and her mixed-media paintings have been featured in numerous solo exhibitions and juried group shows across the United States. Her paintings combine fabric, machine embroidery, and fiber techniques that disrupt and distort the surfaces, which become their own organic forms of sculptural painting."

My students were fascinated with her work and I could totally see trying something similar with my 3rd year 3-D kids. 

Thank you Deeann for your inspiring work.