N

While local artist Wendy Wolff best enjoys painting scenes of nature and wildlife these days, her earliest influence was her father, who was an astronautical and aeronautical artist.

“He was very technical, detailed,” Wolff said. “I have been drawing since I was five years old. He had a desk in the corner for me and he would teach me.”

A native of New Jersey, Wolff continued to learn other artistic mediums throughout her high school years before attending the Mason Gross School of The Arts at Rutgers University. She graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree and soon went to work as a professional artist.

“My dad at that time, he was working for magazines…and when he retired due to illness I took over,” she said. “It was all pen and ink mostly, technical drawings.”

Wolff relocated to Morrison about one-year ago, and has been a member of Foothills Crafts, 418 Woodbury Highway in Manchester since last fall.

“I love antiques, so I was checking out all the areas where all the antique stores are and when I was at the antique store right here on the corner I saw Foothills Crafts and I came in and I got to learn what it was about,” Wolff said.

One work by Wolff that she has created prints from is a depiction of draft horses in the snow.

“It is Gouache,” she said. “It is like a watercolor, but it is opaque and you can layer it where watercolor you can’t layer it, it is transparent.”

Wolff said she began to paint more wildlife prior to moving to Middle Tennessee, when she lived in Warren County New Jersey.

“It was more rural farmland and you have horses and all types of animals,” she said. “So wildlife became more of what I like to paint.”

Wolff said the amount of time it takes her to complete each piece can vary significantly, and she doesn’t really keep track of how many hours each work takes to complete.

“I mostly paint at night when I have time,” she said. “It is a little here, a little there.”

In addition to prints, Wolff also paints on slate, including a variety of colorful Christmas ornaments.

“Up north I started doing craft shows and I wanted to do something different, unique, other than just being a painter on canvas, so started painting on slate,” Wolff said. “It made me stand out at the craft shows and then I started doing slate ornaments.”

As far as what’s next for Wolff, she said has purchased some supplies to try her hand at oil painting.

“My mother always wanted me to try painting in oils,” Wolff said. “She was also an artist and she loved painting in oils.”