Joan Rhine

I fell in love with paper in art school. Now making handmade paper and passing on my knowledge to others through workshops is my passion. My husband Jim and I originally co-founded our studio Submarine Paperworks In 1984 at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, then re-established it when we moved to Gualala in 2000.

My fine art currently focuses on handmade paper and mixed media abstract wall pieces and sculpture. I am also continuing to create my original contemporary jewelry collection Joan Rhine Designs. I feel that there is a symbiotic exchange of ideas and materials between my different expressions of art. The elements of color and texture found in my jewelry are influenced by my mixed media art. Jewelry materials, metal, wire, gold leaf, and beads have migrated into my wall pieces and sculpture.

I enjoy exploring the versatility of metal and paper and how these materials can be perceived as both hard and soft. I like to contrast simple shapes with rich texture, controlled forms with random elements, shiny surfaces with matte, and geometric elements with organic forms.

Much of my work is inspired by my surroundings. When I walk on the beach or in the forest, I absorb natural forms, textures, and colors. Landscapes, skies, even man-made structures along the coast and through the countryside stimulate my imagination.

 

Active Member: North American Hand Papermakers

 

Education:

BFA. The Cooper Union, New York, NY

MFA in painting, printmaking. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

Papermaking. Dieu Donne Paper Mill, New York, NY

Recent Awards from Gualala Arts:

First Place in Jewelry and Ornamentation at Art in the Redwoods (2019, 2015, 2012)

Recent Exhibitions:

Joan Rhine & Jim Meilander Together: Individual & Collaborative Art at Coast Highway Art Collective, Point Arena

Gualala Salon at Gualala Arts

The Art of Paper at Art Center Ukiah

Expressions in Handmade Paper 3 at the Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka