Ieuan Rees

Ieuan (pronounced "YAY-an" ) Rees (1941 – 2025) was a veteran stone cutter, calligrapher, artist, teacher and YouTube personality from Ammanford, Wales.

Education and early life

Rees was born in 1941 in Pontyberem, and grew up in Tumble, Carmarthenshire. He was encouraged by an uncle, Hywel Harries, who was an artist and cartoonist. Rees studied at Carmarthen Art School, and then at the Royal College of Art in London.

Rees designed stone carvings for The Vicar of Dibley TV series, for opening titles in other UK comedies and designed works for public buildings including the Senedd in Cardiff, Wales. His carving of a daffodil featured on the 30p E stamp issued as part of a set to mark the establishment of the Welsh Assembly in 1999.

Later fame Rees's later claim to fame was via the "Best Unintentional ASMR" channel on YouTube. This YouTube video came about due to a project from "Artisan Media" in 2012. They had intended to video tape artists at work and sell the videos, however, he was "too niche" so they uploaded it to YouTube and abandoned the project, as did Rees himself. spawn a "GoFundMe" campaign, and get him interviewed by the BBC, The South Wales Guardian and Inside Edition.

Death Rees' death was announced on 14 November 2025.

Works

The Llandybie Millennium Stone This stone from a local quarry was erected on Llandybie square in 2000. The calligraphy is by Rees