Feature ~ Byrheea

This month I have the lovely pleasure of featuring an amazing, dreamy, whimsical, outrageously creative artist, Rheea. I found her story to be a source of inspiration and smiles :) but don’t take my word for it… please read for yourself!

And don’t forget to visit her 2 shops:

Byrheea

Dollgift

Also check out Byrheea’s blog! In conjunction with the launch of her Dollgift greeting card series She is having a giveaway! Each of her greeting cards comes with a matching bookmark and a cute envelope. What's so special about her cards? Well, all the cards open up to a full illustration! Each of them comes with a matching bookmark and a cute envelope. PLUS, you will also receive a print (first pic) AND a postcard for this giveaway.

Contest ends 9/13/09, see Byrheea’s blog to enter and for details
No shipping restrictions for this giveaway, everyone is welcome to participate.

And now without further ado, I am pleased to introduce you to Byrheea….

My name is Rheea. I live, work and dream on a tiny island call Singapore. When I was found doodling on the walls of my room at the age of three, I learned the hard way that walls at home are not the right place to display my creative flair. To encourage my interest in arts, my parents enrolled me for an art class which I thoroughly enjoyed for three years. I remembered being the one who always initiate to make little note cards or drawings for friends and family members on their birthdays. Some of them still keep my cards/drawings till this day!

Years later, after leaving school, I struggled to fit into the working society; finding jobs, quitting jobs, then back to finding jobs again. I eventually got tired of the whole job-hopping cycle and decide I couldn’t go on like this forever. That was when I began to probe deeper on what I would truly love to do and realized I would like to sell my own works! Now, one year later, I work full-time from home and plan my own schedule everyday. Of course it wasn’t easy being everything and everyone - designer, craftsman, salesman, shipping department, accounts payable/ receivable, marketing and advertising, you name it. BUT that would also mean, more work satisfaction. Without much capital, I can only start slow. I believe one of the most magnificent things in life is to be able to what you love and be beautifully paid for. I am working towards this goal. Ha.

Currently I have two labels, ‘Byrheea’ (By_Rheea) and ‘Dollgift’.

Byrheea is an expression of the more emotional and mysterious side of me. Some describe my drawings as whimsical, others call it contemplative. My drawings and paintings are inspired by great artists like Ray Caesar, Tamaxxx, Audrey Kawasaki, and many more.

Dollgift on the other hand reveals the childlike side of me. The ‘doll’ refers to the little girl, Nina, in my drawings. She is imaginative, unpredictable and full of dreams. Oh, be sure to look out for my beloved Dashund boy, Nono, in many of the drawings as well. Since music plays an important role in my life, it is one of the main themes in Dollgift.

Currently my works are for sale at several retail outlets in Singapore, namely Anthropology at The Scarlet Hotel boutique, Anthropology at Holland Village, The Coffee Nation, and Cat Socrates. They can also be purchased online through my Etsy shop. For consignment (in Singapore), wholesale or custom made enquiry, please contact me at info@mydollgift.com. To know more about me and my works, please visit my official websites www.byrheea.com and www.mydollgift.com.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone whom I know or may not know for being so supportive of my works. Each and every little encouragement means a lot to me. Also, I would like to thank, Kim, for putting these together. Thank you. :)

Vote for me!

I’ve entered 2 images into the Southern California’s Faces & Places Photo Contest!! I would really appreciate some votes and maybe if you could help me out by spreading the word? :) thank you!! muah!!

Just click on the images below to vote, and copy the url’s to link to my image! You can only vote for 1 image, and only once per email (I know, but they don't spam!)

http://socalphotocontest.com/bin/Rate?image_id=1007003266&search=278__283__288__293

http://socalphotocontest.com/bin/Rate?image_id=1007003267&search=278__283__288__293

Thank you!!!

Pear Project

Over at FPOE we’ve started a fun little project to keep our inspiration up! We team up with one other person and are given a theme. Then we each have a week to submit an image with our take on that theme. We don’t see the others image until they’re both complete! Then the submissions are posted on the Pear Projects blog.

I gotta say… it’s pretty fun :)

Last week’s theme, pears…. (we were a little slow to start, lol)

KimberlyRose : AmeliaKay

Next week’s theme… tops/bottoms

Print Lab Review - WCI

West Coast Imaging – Nothing changes a photo more than the paper it's printed on.

Professional quality prints, at a decent price! And if your a paper junkie like me… you’ll fall in love with this place!

My current favorite paper is the Hahnemühle Photo Rag, but I’ve also recently fallen for the Fuji Crystal Archive Pearl….

quick tip on these two papers…

• the Hahnemühle prints a little darker, so be prepared for that. But the texture, thickness, and saturation of this paper are amazing! You must try it!

• the Fuji Pearl while brilliant with color, not the best for all portraits. Also, do print your b&w’s on this paper, WOW… I mean really… WOW!

But don’t take my word for it, order your FREE paper samples here!

And if these two papers weren’t enough, they offer a total of 9 choices. And if you still are not satisfied, they will customize your order to print on any paper you want!

That’s another great thing about WCI… they’re amazing customer service. They want to help you, to create projects, to learn themselves! In fact I’ve personally worked with them to create a project I had in mind… just an experiment… and they were more than happy to work with me and bring the idea to life! Unfortunately, in the end the project didn’t work out, but WCI offered to credit back my account, with many apologies even though this wasn’t completely their fault with the project being an experiment.

West Coast Imaging has many different options for printing… the Print Lab, Print Lab Express, Scans, Exhibition Prints, and more!

So if you want a better quality print on fine art papers, you can’t go wrong with West Coast Imaging! I sound like I’m a sales rep for this place! But trust me, their great… their my super secret weapon for making my work really stand out!

Current Sale…. 20% off Super Gloss Prints! Order by August 17, 2009

The only downsides to this lab… the prices are a bit higher, but that’s expected with the finer papers. And the shipping does take a little longer, so best to plan ahead with orders. Also, the order form seems a bit dated compared to other print labs (except the express lab uses ROES). So read it carefully and make sure you understand all the cropping options, papers, etc… because you only get to hit submit once, then your order is in!

So, to review my print labs so far:

• Mpix ~~~> quick orders, when only 1 or 2 prints needed
• Miller's ~~~> bulk orders to fill up my portfolio, or press items (ex. greeting cards)
• WCI ~~~> for your fine art prints

In Her Own Image

In Her Own Image is finally available to the public!! I am honored to have one of my images included in this amazing, inspiring book full of extremely talented female artists.

The latest offering from the Female Self-Portrait Artists' Support Group includes the work of 87 members of the currently 1800+ strong group.

Where "She Took Her Own Picture" was an introduction to some of the members of the group with two-page spreads of their work, "In Her Own Image" brings more members to your attention and features their work in a more flowing style with a larger selection of images.

At 316 pages, "In Her Own Image" is certainly a weighty tome of beautiful imagery and a wonderful addition to your collection with more artists to meet and enjoy the work of.

We hope you enjoy it!

In Her Own Image <~~~ buy it on blurb!

**All proceeds from the sale of this book go to Madre**

In Her Own Image features work from the following artists:
Alisha Shevlin, Angel Lynne, Angela Gott, Angeline Stewart, Ashley Lebedev, Bazil Zerinsky, Bee Brady, Bethany Helzer, Bogna Kuczerawy, Brienne Griffin, Bronwen Hyde, Cheryl, Christina Ruvoldt, Christy Marie, Crystal Rose, Cynthia That-Cacopardo, Dana France, dani, Elise Hibbard, Elizabeth LaFreniere, Elizabeth Livermore, Elle Moss, Elsa Björg Magnúsdóttir, Emily Basch, Emily Sandifer, Emma Newson, Erika Pham, Eva Moreno López, Felicitas Klische, fernanda montoro, Gemma Gonzalez, Heather Evans Smith, Hélène Deroubaix, i.anton, Ilina S, Jennifer Evans, Jennifer Henriksen, Jill Evans, Joanne Cruickshank, Juliet Home, Juliette LaCour, Karin Elizabeth, Kate Armstrong, kate passaro, Kimberly Rose, Kiyo Murakami, Kristina Martino, Laura Acosta, Lauren Bentley, Lena Paloma, Lisa Noble, Lucy Nuzum, Lucy Wen-Shu Shih, Maggie Phelan, Margaret Tyson, María Elena Costa, Mariangela Totaro, Marico Fayre, Marie Killen, Maryam Siddiqi, MaryElise Tomczak, Maureen Fogarty, Megan Horsburgh, Melissa Gridley, Michelle McRae, Michelle Merle Pace, Miss Aniela, Monica Costa, Monica L. Shulman, ms.sparkles, Nathalie Griffiths, Özlem Haluk, Pamela Jesuitas, Qathi Gallaher Hart, Rachel Blumenthal, Rossina Bossio, Sarah Mercer, Sarah R. Bloom, Sarah Wright, Sevgi K, Sharon Cooper, Sharon T. Wheaton, SophieCharlotte, Susan Knight, Teffin, Teresa Horstmann, Wendy Anderson.

Giveaway Winner!

Thank you all for entering this month’s contest and making it such a great turn out once again! I hope next month you will all come back for the next giveaway!

And now… onto the fun stuff!! The prize of this months giveaway is any unframed print, 8x10 or 8x12 format by pixelens photography, winners choice from his flickr page, or website!

Mic, once again did a great job at picking the winner…

Although this time we had a little issue with him trying to eat the winner…

zoomed in a bit………….. and the winner is……………….

Digital Misfit!!