Once, Steven Wipfli gave
art assignments to his students. Now, he gives them to himself.
“I give myself daily challenges,” he said. “I improvise
with color, shape, design, and imagery. I am constantly on the lookout for new
materials, techniques, and subject matter. I delight in the universal joy and
satisfaction of making something with my hands.”
Wipfli retired from Ottawa
Hills Junior-Senior High School near Toledo in 2015. While there, he taught
Art, Digital Photography, Graphic Design and AP Studio Art. After retiring, he
devoted himself to his mixed media art full-time. He said he uses the same
visual problem-solving skills he
developed as a teacher in his art, which incorporate a variety of colors and
textures in their depiction of landscapes and other natural elements.
Wipfli was
inspired to try his hand at that kind of art after visiting a quilting exhibit,
then visiting an international paper store in New York City. Soon after that, he was collecting different kinds
of paper and weaving them into his art like fabrics.
“I find relationships in the patterns, colors and
textures,” he said. “I piece together small bits to make larger structures. I
have never grown tired of paper collage. The material choices are infinite, the
textures and colors are exciting and inspiring.”
These days, he frequents an exotic paper store
in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is constantly on the hunt for paper that inspires
him.
“I am constantly on the lookout for any kind of
paper products that I could incorporate into my work,” he said. “I have used
art papers, gift wrap, scrapbooking supplies, bookbinding products, packing
materials, ribbons, fabric, beads. I’ll use anything that can be glued
onto a flat surface.”
His focus on landscapes and other natural
elements comes from his fascination with the shapes and repetition found in
nature, he said.
“I love the duality of earth and sky and the
horizon line where they meet,” he said. “I am often inspired by the Midwestern
landscape which presents one vast, ongoing horizontal line, broken by verticals
of trees and architecture.”
In his work, Wipfli said, he tries to interpret
those shapes in his own abstract style, weaving in his love of
colors and textures.
“I hope that my viewers enjoy the play of
color, shape and repetition in my work, organized through a tight,
geometric, modernist sensibility, and the colors, textures and patterns of
found papers,” he said.
Wipfli said he’s ordered thousands of frames
and framing supplies from American®Frame over the years, and favors neutral
metal frames, usually in black.
“The American Frame staff is professional,
detailed and friendly,” he said. “Because I live in Toledo, the convenience of
the AF showroom for checking out samples and for order pickup can’t be beat.
The quick turnaround for orders is a wonderful luxury.”
His biggest tip to other American Frame
customers, he said is to measure their art “twice, even three times” before
ordering their frame to be sure it fits.
When he’s not creating art or searching for the
perfect paper, Wipfli spends his time volunteering, visiting museums, and
cooking.
Next, he said, he wants to keep giving himself
more challenging artistic “homework,” including focusing on larger and larger
pieces, and more time hunting down interesting paper.
“My initial pieces were quite small,” he said.
“I have made hundreds of 5” x 5” collage greeting cards and framed pieces of
similar small sizes. But I find larger scale work satisfying and challenging. I
also am becoming interested in more representational work: whimsical birds,
floral arrangements and landscapes.”
