Wendi Schneider
{{short description|American artist and photographer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Wendi Schneider
| image = Artist Wendi Schneider in her studio.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1955}}
| birth_place = Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
| education = Associates of Arts, Stephens College; BA, Newcomb College
| known_for = Photography
| notable_works = States of Grace, Evenings with the Moon
}}
Wendi Schneider (born 1955) is an American artist and photographer based in Denver, Colorado, known for her photographs of nature and wildlife that are often printed on paper vellum or kozo with hand-applied layers of gold leaf on verso.{{cite news |last1=Gwinn |first1=Allison |title=Spotlight: Wendi Schneider |url=https://denverlifemagazine.com/spotlight-wendi-schneider/ |accessdate=January 29, 2020 |publisher=Denver Life Magazine |date=November 26, 2018}} Gilded vellum and kozo photographs from her ongoing "States of Grace" series have been exhibited in more than 100 gallery and museum exhibitions nationally and abroad. Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography, has stated: "There is an elegance that emanates from Wendi Schneider's photographs. It can be seen in the turn of a flamingo's neck, in hanging fog or the flick of a betta fish tail. Schneider's photographic gestures are not rare sightings but daily gifts from the natural world for those with the patience to see them."
Life and early career
Born in Memphis, TN in 1955, Schneider attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she studied Art History, before moving on to Newcomb College in 1975 to study Studio Art. Painting was her chosen medium at this time, and her first use of a camera was to make reference photographs of painting subjects.{{cite web |title=Wendi Schneider |url=https://rfotofolio.org/2018/04/27/wendi-schneider/ |website=Rfotofolio |accessdate=January 20, 2020}} When she shifted her artistic focus to photography, she sought to integrate her painting background by layering paints and glazes on her photographic prints to "create a more personal impression."{{cite web |last1=Kirchoff |first1=Michael |title=Wendi Schneider |url=https://www.catalystinterviews.com/interviews/2019/5/22/wendi-schneider |website=Catalyst Interviews |accessdate=January 20, 2020}} After college, she remained in New Orleans and worked for The Times-Picayune, where she photographed, designed, and produced the award-winning 1987 edition of The Picayune's Creole Cook Book.{{cite web |last1=Couturier |first1=Catherine |title=New Artist: Wendi Schneider |url=http://www.catherinecouturier.com/blog/new-gallery-artist-wendi-schneider/ |accessdate=January 20, 2020}} The following year, Schneider moved to New York City, where she photographed for Victoria Magazine while continuing her fine art photography work{{cite web |last1=Smithson |first1=Aline |title=Wendi Schneider: Evenings with the Moon |url=http://lenscratch.com/2019/10/wendi-schneider-evenings-with-the-moon/ |website=Lenscratch |accessdate=January 17, 2020}} During this time, her work often appeared on book covers for authors such as Louisa May Alcott,{{cite book |last1=Alcott |first1=Louisa May |title=Behind the Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott |date=February 14, 1997 |publisher=Perennial |isbn=0-688-15132-9 }} Anne Rice, Tami Hoag,{{cite book |last1=Hoag |first1=Tami |title=Sarah's Sin |date=February 19, 2009 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-0-553-56050-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9orjfsArY1QC&q=wendi+schneider+book+cover&pg=PP6}} Iris Johansen,{{cite book |last1=Johansen |first1=Iris |title=Last Bridge Home |date=November 4, 2009 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=978-0-553-29871-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVix78pKT8AC&q=wendi+schneider+book+cover&pg=PP6}} Jodi Thomas{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Jodi |title=The Texan's Reward |year=2005 |publisher=Berkley Books |isbn=978-0-425-20584-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJn_bP40bK4C&q=wendi+schneider+book+cover&pg=PP8}} and more. In 1991, she exhibited a collection of hand-painted photographs titled Mille Fleur at A Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans, which continues to represent her work.{{cite web |last1=Versair |first1=Lannie |title=A Conversation with Wendi Schneider |url=https://shuttertalk.blog/2019/04/14/a-conversation-with-wendi-schneider/ |website=Shuttertalk |accessdate=January 28, 2020}} In 1994, she left New York for Denver, where she still lives today, and later put her fine art practice on hold while she raised her son and worked in commissioned photography, art direction, and design.
Fine art photography
File:Schneider States of Grace.jpg
File:Schneider States of Grace 2.jpg
In 2010, Schneider was inspired to return her fine art roots; a return visit to A Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans cemented the desire to revive her fine art photography practice.{{cite web |last1=Cloutier |first1=Crista |title=Meet Working Artist Wendi Schneider |url=https://theworkingartist.com/meet-working-artist-wendi-schneider/ |website=The Working Artist |accessdate=January 30, 2020}} Soon after, she began work on her ongoing States of Grace series, and its three attendant sub-series – Flora, Fauna, and Figura – which illustrate Schneider's "affinity for wildlife and the natural world". Schneider is known for the gilding effect she uses in this series, wherein "images are captured, layered and printed digitally with archival pigment ink on paper vellum or kozo, and white gold, 24k gold or silver leaf is then hand-applied to the back of the print, creating a silken sheen on the print's surface."{{cite web |last1=Carta |first1=Davida |title=Wendi Schneider |url=https://underexposedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/157980742609/wendi-schneider |website=Underexposed Magazine |accessdate=January 28, 2020}} States of Grace has traveled worldwide.{{cite web |title=Show: States of Grace |url=https://griffinmuseum.org/show/states-of-grace/ |website=Griffin Museum of Photography |accessdate=January 29, 2020}}
File:Schneider Evenings with the Moon.jpg
Schneider's most recent series, Evenings with the Moon "engages the moon as muse." Images in this series are printed on paper vellum or Japanese kozo paper and gilded with gold leaf. As of January 2020 Evenings with the Moon has been shown at the Southeast Center for Photography in Greenville, SC;{{cite web |title=Wendi Schneider at Southeast Center for Photography |url=https://www.fstopmagazine.com/blog/2019/09/wendi-schneider-southeast-center-for-photography/ |website=F Stop Magazine |accessdate=January 29, 2020}} and The Gallery at Mr. Pool in Boulder, CO.{{cite news |last1=Froyd |first1=Susan |title=Twenty Must See Month of Photography Shows |url=https://www.westword.com/arts/month-of-photography-takes-over-denver-with-twenty-gallery-shows-11260810 |accessdate=January 30, 2020 |publisher=Westword |date=March 8, 2019}}
Schneider has been selected as a Finalist for Photolucida's international juried exhibition Critical Mass in 2017, 2018,{{cite web |title=Critical Mass 2018 Finalists Announced |url=http://photolucidapdx.blogspot.com/2018/08/critical-mass-2018-finalists-announced.html |website=Critical Mass |accessdate=February 6, 2020}} and 2020. She has taught workshops at the Southeast Center for Photography{{cite web |title=Workshops |url=https://www.sec4p.com/workshops |website=Southeast Center for Photography |accessdate=February 7, 2020}} and A Smith Gallery.{{cite web |title=Workshop: Leafing on Vellum and other Substrates with Wendi Schneider |url=https://www.analogforevermagazine.com/community-calendar/workshop-leafing-on-vellum-and-other-substrates-with-wendi-schneider |website=Analog Forever |accessdate=April 3, 2020}}
Awards
File:Wendi-schneider-pc-memento-mori-gilded-vellum.jpg
- 2014: Black & White Magazine, Best Single Image, Animals{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2016: International Color Awards, 2nd Place, Merit of Excellence Wildlife{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2016: San Diego Natural History Museum Best of Nature, First place{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2016: 9th Annual Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Single Image, Nude/Figure{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2017: Neutral Density Photography Awards, Honorable Mention{{cite web |title=Honorable Mention: Wendi Schneider |url=https://ndawards.net/winners-gallery/nd-awards-2017/professional/trees/hm/5404 |website=ND Awards |accessdate=January 30, 2020}}
- 2017: Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, International Exhibit, Third place, Nature, Science, and Animals{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2017: Animalia, Director's Selection, The Center for Fine Art Photography{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2017: Gala Awards, First place, Urban & Rural Landscape{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Tim |title=Urban & Rural Landscape |url=https://www.thegalaawards.com/urban-rural-landscape |website=The Gala Awards}}
- 2018: National Association of Women Artists, Silver, Small Works, Works on Paper{{cn|date=April 2022}}
- 2018: American Photography 34{{cite web |title=American Photography 34 Winners: Wendi Schneider |url=https://www.ai-ap.com/slideshow/AP/34/wendi-schneider/ |website=AI-AP |accessdate=February 4, 2020}}
- 2018: Moscow International Photo Awards, Bronze, Nature{{cite web |title=Bronze / 2018 / Nature/Wildlife: States of Grace |url=https://www.moscowfotoawards.com/winners/moscow/2018/4365/ |website=Moscow Foto Awards |accessdate=February 4, 2020}}
- 2018: Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3), Bronze, Fine Art, Landscape{{cite web |title=Bronze / 2018 / Fine Art – Landscape: States of Grace |url=https://px3.fr/winners/px3/2018/10044/ |website=PX3 |publisher=Prix de la Photographie |accessdate=February 4, 2020}}
- 2019: San Francisco Bay Month of Photography, Gold{{cite web |title=2019 San Francisco Bay International Photography Exhibition Gold Award Winners |url=https://bokehbokeh.photo/article/gold-award-winners-2019-san-francisco-bay-international-photography-exhibition_43 |website=Bokeh Bokeh |accessdate=February 4, 2020}}
- 2020: Px3, Nature/Trees, Gold{{cite web |title=PX3 2020 Winner - States of Grace - the Wisdom of Trees |url=https://px3.fr/winners/px3/2020/10970/ |access-date=21 March 2021|website=Px3}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.wendischneider.com}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Wendi}}
Category:H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College alumni