“Two Diverse Artists Together” Jim Mielander and Joan Rhine
The Coast Highway Art Collective in Point Arena is hosting on opening reception on Friday, October 4, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm for husband and wife artists Jim Mielander and Joan Rhine. Each artist has their unique style and individual artist pursuits, but this show will highlight several pieces they have collaborated on, including handmade paper, jewelry, collage, sculpture and mixed media.
Jim Meilander works with many diverse materials using a wide range of techniques: hand-papermaking, collage, printmaking, painting, drawing, and sculpture. His abstract imagery is a playful personal synthesis of real and imaginary images. He is inspired by his natural and man-made physical surroundings, by objects used in work and play, and by pure fantasy.
Meilander received his degree in art from Ohio University. He settled in San Francisco, where he established Submarine Paperworks in Hunters Point Naval Shipyard with his wife Joan Rhine in 1984. In 2000 they moved to Gualala. In addition to art-making, Jim has designed and fabricated specialized papermaking equipment.
Joan Rhine’s creations include abstract wall pieces and sculpture in mixed media, and jewelry. Her most recent work is evolving in two separate yet related directions: sculptural mixed media artworks that combine copper wire and handmade paper and her “Joan Rhine designs …. Jewelry” collection using precious metals, semi-precious stones and beads. Joan’s expressive jewelry pieces are unique, each one completely handmade one-of-a-kind or in small editions. Her contemporary jewelry designs are light, comfortable to wear and flatter the wearer.
Joan, who grew up in New York City, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Cooper Union and her Master of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking from Pratt Institute. In addition, she studied hand papermaking at Dieu Donne Paper Mill in New York and jewelry with Charlene Modena at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University.
“We are so happy to have the opportunity to show our work together,” say the artists.
“Although we mostly work separately on our own art and projects, we sometimes appropriate each other’s ideas and materials. Because we work in physical proximity, there is an unconscious cross-pollination of ideas. We also do collaborate from time to time on an artwork or series. We have in common a love of materials, art processes, experimentation and abstraction. This led us both to use hand papermaking as a medium because of its malleable, flexible and tactile qualities. Working with handmade paper and playing with its techniques is a jumping off point for many of our mixed media artworks. We are the first person to view each other’s work and respond to it. Sometimes we actually take input and suggestions under consideration, and they broaden our original vision. See if you can tell where we influenced one another.”
The Coast Highway Art Collective is located at 284 Main Street, Point Arena, the little red building with the big yellow sun, located next to the Redwood Coast Credit Union. Regular hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11:00am to 5:00pm. Visit the website at www.coast-highway-artists.com for information about the collective’s artists, upcoming events and how to join.
