Dinner with Deanna Devries by Lauren Ricciotti

Dinner with Deanna Devries by Lauren Ricciotti

       Deanna Devries has been a huge part of my life for the last eight years. She has not only been a mentor to me, but also an incredible friend. I chose to interview her because she is so interesting and well rounded. I have known her since she was in an all girl rock band and even when she owned her own art gallery. Deanna is an artist and a metal smith, but more importantly she is one of the most generous and kind hearted people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

I. An Introduction to Deanna Devries
II. Her Life and her Art
III. Thoughts on Being a Woman
IV. How the Election Changed Her Life
V. What Does Being a Strong Woman Mean?

An Introduction to Deanna Devries

The most interesting thing to me about Deanna is that she has always been so worldly and interesting. Her parents are very conservative and live in Florida yet Deanna loves the big city art scene. She has travelled all over the world and experienced so much that I can only hope to hear about half of the life experience she has.

Her Life and Her Art

Deanna makes intricate designs using mostly cement and silver. She hand crafts everything from jewelry to baby rattles. Art has always been her main focus, having gone to MassArt, but she has had to have a variety of day jobs in order to support her pursuit of art. Deanna's business is titles Crftshw and in the future she hopes to open up a permanent little shop. I was lucky enough to catch Deanna after she did an art show in Fort Mason in San Francisco.

Thoughts on Being a Woman

I had never really been able to talk to Deanna about womanhood and since she has been an important woman in my life I really wanted to know what her experience has been like. I need strong women in my life, because the world is still not very kind to women. I also need strong openly gay women in my life to show me that there is a positive life that can be led.

How the Election Changed Her Life

This is the more serious part of the interview. This interview was conducted shortly after Donald Trump was elected president. In fact, Deanna was in Morocco during election day. Deanna has shown me so much sadness and anger about this that I felt it necessary to talk to her about. In this segment, Deanna talks about her family and how she will approach them about their actions.

What Does Being a Strong Woman Mean?

After completing this interview, I feel a sense of complete gratitude. I am so lucky to have been able to have such an honest an open conversation with someone I love and look up to.

Here is a video of Deanna playing drums in her band Wet and Reckless