Sometimes life get interesting

It's been awhile since I posted updates. The primary reason is that I had a misfortunate mishap where I dislocated and broke my shoulder, and damaged a tendon and my rotator cuff. This took place in mid-April. I had successful repair surgery on May 2nd and have been doing physical therapy to rehabilitate my shoulder.

I had already started my artist residency for the University of Wyoming's Microbestiary project. I'm one of three artists who are working on interpreting microbiology through art. The other two are Tristan Duke and Reza Safavi. We had a visit together in March where we visited scientists and facilities at the University of Wyoming. I was scheduled to do a second trip in May, but had shoulder surgery a few days before the trip was to happen.

I was about half-way through my installation project for the residency when my mishap occurred. As soon as I was released from the sling after my 6-week post-surgery appointment, I got back to the project.

My main project for the residency is an installation of glass blown and sculpted borosilicate protozoans. I included 168 protozoans to fill a 3 ft X 9 ft space (same proportions as a microscope slide). I had fun doing research on protozoa for this project, and I enjoyed making my sculptures. The exhibit opens on August 26th, at the University of Wyoming Art Museum, and will run through the end of the year.

There are 168 protozoans in this installation, which is titled Microcosm

I based the sculptures on real protozoans. There’s more diversity in these eukaryotic unicellular organisms than I had ever imagined.

This was my mock-up installation. The frame for the exhibit will be different, but the arrangement of the sculptures will be what is shown here.

Here’s a link to a video I posted on instagram, which gives a more intimate view of the installation: Microcosm

Earth, Water, Air, and Fire - auction is live!

The American Association of Woodturners POP (Professional Outreach Program) auction is online right now. It will be live as of 7:30 pm EDT tonight, July 17, 2021. Here's the link to this piece:

https://auction.woodturner.org/Andi-Wolfe-Earth-Water-Air-Fire-2020_i41819671

WIT Presents – Andi Wolfe

I will be the featured artist for the March 13, 2021 WIT Presents event. It's free, but you have to register in order to attend. It will be from 4–5 p.m. EST. To register, just click on this link

16th Annual Bryn Du Art Show

Granville, Ohio— This March, Bryn Du will celebrate 16 years of amazing artists and artworks at the beautiful, historic mansion. Originally held in 2005 as part of Granville’s bicentennial celebration, the Bryn Du Art Show has become an annual tradition. It has now grown to a national juried show which will host 70 artists and 85 pieces of art this year. This exhibition has something for everyone in the way of visual art including works of oil, pastels, acrylics, photography, ceramics, mixed media, silkscreen, graphite, pen and ink, silicone, watercolor, wood, stone, glass, pyrography and fiber art. The majority of these unique artworks will be available for sale.

While mostly Ohio-based, artists from across the country submitted their pieces for consideration during the fall and into January. Each of those pieces was then carefully reviewed by an expert juror who had the difficult task of choosing the final pieces to exhibit at the Show. Andi Wolfe of Upper Arlington is a member of the Worthington Area Art League, and is one of this year’s artists represented in the Show. Her painting, Bienvenido a Quito, a 2X4 ft cityscape of Quito, Ecuador, will be on display, and she will be doing an oil painting demonstration of a largescale cityscape at the mansion from 3 to 5 p.m. on March 21, 2020.

The 16th Annual Bryn Du Art Show will once again allow visitors to vote on their favorite pieces through the return of the Community Choice awards. Special events will include artist demonstrations held at various days and times, as well as public art-making activities to be held each Saturday during the 3 week show from 12-2pm. In addition, the Bryn Du Art Show will host “Schools Night” on Thursday, March 12th from 4 to 6 pm where children and their families can visit the art show and participate in an art show scavenger hunt and art activities designed specifically for the evening.

Since 2004, the Bryn Du Commission, with continued support from the Village of Granville, has brought a variety of art works to the Mansion for this free, family-friendly community event. This year’s Diamond Elite level sponsors include GermainCars.com, the Granville Arts Commission, the Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Magazine, Cherry Valley Hotel and Donatos of Granville. The Bryn Du Art Show will open on March 5th at 7pm for an opening night celebration. Open hours for March 6 through 21 are: Sundays 12-4pm, closed Mondays, Tuesdays/Wednesdays/Fridays 10am-3pm, Thursdays 4-8pm and Saturdays 10am–5pm. For a detailed schedule of events, please visit bryndu.com.

ABOUT THE BRYN DU COMMISSION The Bryn Du Commission is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which is charged with maintaining the mansion as a long-term asset for the community that will provide a place for cultural, recreational, and educational activities for people of all ages. Bryn Du also hosts the Bryn Du Art Center, Bryn Du speaker series and the Rendville Art Show, among other community events. For more information or to schedule a private group tour of the Art Show, contact 740-587-7053 or angela@bryndu.com

Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Competition 2019 - Part 2

In June I had posted about how I had entered "Beloved" into the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts competition, and had been informed that my piece had won an award. I didn't know what it was at the time because awards are first announced at the opening reception. I promised an update, but then my busy schedule made me forget to do so...

To my great surprise and delight, my piece won 2nd Best in Show for the professional division. Here are some photos from the opening reception:

The line for the opening reception on July 23, 2019.

The postcard for the exhibit.

2nd Best of Show!!!

I was totally gobsmacked when I saw that I had one this award.

Beloved

My piece was in a nice location, and had good visibility during the state fair.

Do I look happy?

Yes, I was really happy….

Fine Arts Exhibit Reception

My daughter and I did a selfie with my entry.

Awards Ceremony - this way...

Reserved Seating

Catalog

This is the catalog page for the Professional Division Awards. They should have used the photo I had provided for my entry…

Live Music

The music was lovely. They were set up really close to where my piece was on display, so it was kind of hard to talk to people about my piece.

2019 AAW Symposium Auctions

I have a piece in the AAW POP (Professional Outreach Program) exhibit, Traces. This is called Vestiges of a Forgotten World, and it's patterned after the leaf scars of a Lepidodendron - an extinct club moss tree that lived around 350 million years ago.

You can bid online until the live auction bidding is done, on July 13, 2019.

Testa series

Many of my biomorphic forms are inspired by seed coat morphology - especially of parasitic plant seeds. Castilleja seeds are interesting to me in that the outer seed coat separates from the inner, which results in a skeleton-like appearance.

I just completed this little form in time for the 2019 American Association of Woodturners symposium, which will take place in a couple of weeks. It’s made from a dogwood end grain turning, which gives the thin-walled elements a lot of strength. It’s 3.75 X 3.25 inches in size (9.53 X 8.3 cm). I will have it on display in the instant gallery at the AAW symposium, in Raleigh, NC (July 12-14).

Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Competition 2019

Well, this is good news:

"Congratulations!

Your Artwork has been Awarded at the 2019 Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition! We cannot disclose which award you won at this time. We encourage you to attend the Opening Reception on Tuesday, July 23rd 6-8pm. Please see invitation given to you at the artist drop-off (or mailed to you) for more details. The Award Ceremony will begin at 630pm in the Rotunda."

I've no clue as to what prize it might be - probably not a major one, though. Still, I'm excited to have an award for the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Competition - there were more than 2200 entries - mostly 2D works, but a good selection of 3D as well.

I will post an update after I find out what the award is...

Here's my artist's statement:

The natural world offers many inspirations. I am a botanist by day and a woodturner/carver in whatever spare time I can glean from the week. My work has focused on the use of surface enhancements that employ botanical or other biological motifs.

Beloved originated with the loss of a maple tree at an 1800s homestead in Tennessee. The tree was on the property of a good friend whose family has lived in this home from its beginning. The maple was also an original inhabitant of the property. My friend asked artists in the woodturning community to make something from the wood of her beloved tree so that she would have a collection of photos celebrating the life of the tree. I hope my rendering of leaves from the wood of this beloved maple tree has done honor to my friend’s memories of her life-long home.

---

Just for context, this is from Vicki Jordan's tree. She sent out hundreds of wood blanks from her beloved tree. It took me a bit longer than I had expected to finish this piece, because of the deep curve on the rim, plus the wood was rock hard! I can't begin to tell you how many hours of work (and cussing) this piece took, but I'm glad it will have some recognition at this year's Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibit.