Rachel Hausmann-Schall, artist residency and adult program manager
Residencies are like artists: no two are the same. From the different types of brushes, ink, paper and tools to classroom etiquette and even the choice of studio clothing, each resident artist at the Woodson Art Museum has their own personality and approach. For our community members, this variety of artists and what they bring to the table keeps excitement and interest high. Audience members can expect something new with each artist residency–and I think that’s all part of the “secret sauce.” Each residency requires a new recipe.
Earlier this month, the Museum welcomed first-time Birds in Art artist Tony Drehfal for a 3-week residency at the Glass Box Studio. Tony is a wood engraver, based about an hour north of Wausau. It’s always exciting to me when Wisconsin-based artists are represented in Birds in Art, and it’s even more exciting when I get the chance to work with them for a residency (especially when they are in our backyard!)
Tony has spent over 20 years building his knowledge of wood engraving. Retiring after a 35-year career as a photographer at a college in southern Wisconsin, Tony began exploring his interest in engraving full-time in 2015. His experience as a wood engraver has afforded him the opportunity to travel, collect, and study with some of the world’s greatest engravers. Tony is an active member of the Wood Engravers’ Network and was elected to be a member of the Society of Wood Engravers in 2018. Throughout his residency, Tony shared his vast knowledge about wood engraving by chronicling his travels to the UK, highlighting workshops he participated in over the years, and discussing studio visits with various artists, not to mention the large collection of books and prints he brought along to Wausau!
Tony’s wood engraving tools at the Glass Box Studio
Wood engraving is a type of printmaking that differs from woodcut printmaking. Wood engravers like Tony create highly detailed images on the end grain of hard wood blocks (traditionally boxwood) with a tool called a burin. Wood engravers work on a small scale–their blocks are generally around 3×3 inches and rarely scaling beyond 8×10 inches. Woodcut printmakers by comparison use blocks created from the side or edge grain of wood, which are generally softer and have a less uniform grain, making finer detail more difficult. Additionally, wood engravers (like many types of printmakers) must think in reverse while engraving–the lines or marks they make will appear white in their final print, not unlike a “reductive” drawing, which starts with a dark surface and the artist takes away or “subtracts” to create their image.
Tony invited the Wausau community into his world of wood engraving during not one, not two, but three different artist lectures throughout his residency. While it’s common for visiting artists to give a talk about their work to the public as part of Museum programming, it’s not common for them to offer three! Tony’s talks focused on his wood engraving practice and shared the work of Monica Poole, one of his favorite engravers, as well as Thomas Bewick, a well-known wood engraver whose blocks have been printed over 750,000 times in books like the “History of Quadrupeds” and “A History of British Birds.”
A sample of Tony’s collection of wood engraving books
Tony also offered several Open Studio sessions at the Glass Box Studio and engaged with art educators from the Wausau School District during their recent in-service day. With each group of visitors, Tony’s passion for wood engraving reverberated throughout conversations as they observed his prints, tools, and process, or while they thumbed through his collection of rare books on artists and engraving.
Wausau School District art educators observing his wood engraving process
I enjoy learning about the artists I work with during their residencies. After several conversations with Tony, it was clear to me that the wood engraving community is unmatched in the art world. Tony was also so generous to share the work of other engravers, celebrating each artist for their different style and discussing how they have influenced his practice. Tony, a lover of both engraving and books, rarely boasts about his accomplishments. However, his impressive engravings are highly detailed, and the textures depicted in his work are simply unbelievable. In fact, his piece Sweetgrass was featured on the special anniversary hardcover edition of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book “Braiding Sweetgrass,” acting as a beautiful symbol of our relationship to nature… the braided strands represent interconnectedness, something I now understand as an important foundation of the wood engraving community.
Tony working on a print while visitors watch during an Open Studio session at the Glass Box Studio
There is no tried and true recipe for artist residencies because each artist brings their own set of ingredients with them. A good cook allows their flavors to marinate, and a successful residency provides space for the artist to share their passion with the community–and that was the “secret sauce” for Tony’s residency.
