[BLOG POST 09/30/23] Check out my latest art acquisition! It’s a painting by accomplished local artist Kimberly Reed-Deemer and is part of her Iron Tribe series.
Kimberly also does beautiful watercolor landscapes and oil paintings on every topic imaginable – landscape, still life, animals, dancers, musicians, flowers, and more! All her work is based on keen observation and a love of nature. I had a very hard time deciding which painting to take home!
But what on earth is the "Iron Tribe"?
The Iron Tribe is the brainchild of David Lobdell, professor of fine arts at NM Highlands University. He held the very first Iron Tribe exhibition in 2001 which featured forty American and international artists. The mission? To bring world-class metal work techniques to local art students. In fact, the NMHU foundry has two furnaces, one that can melt 300 pounds of metal and one that can melt 120 pounds. When the metal is melted, it is then poured into molds to make sculptures or other objects.
The Iron Tribe conference has grown over the years and now features an exhibition of metal work sculptures/artwork plus a public iron pour and a fiery performance based on a Chinese fireworks tradition called "Da Shuhua" which started with farmers who couldn’t afford fireworks so they threw molten metal against a stone wall.
Here's a short video I took of the Iron Tribe's exciting performance Feb 2023:
Kimberly says, “For a figure painter, the Iron Tribe has it all; people in motion, color, fire, energy and excitement, all in an environment of interesting material and textures.” To capture the events Kimberly takes a lot of photos and then retires to her studio to paint. Read more about Kimberly's Iron Tribe passion on her website: reed-deemerartstudio.com
The painting that is now in my collection is titled “Iron Ladies” and shows women of different ages sharing knowledge and learning from one another at an Iron Tribe conference. I really love Kimberly's confident, loose, and precise brush strokes, well thought out composition, and color scheme.
Plus I find the subject matter – women helping women in a male-dominated field – heartwarming. ❤️
In case you can’t tell from the photo at the top of this post, I’m beyond thrilled to have this painting in my home. Kimberly is an exceptionally talented painter and it brings me joy every day to look at "Iron Ladies".
If you are interested in collecting art check out this insightful and helpful video:
Thank you, Lucy! And I learned some things about the IRON TRIBE from your blog that I was entirely unaware of! Even after all these years of painting them! I am honored to be included in your collection, and honored to have your painting in MINE!!