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 Holly Tornheim grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from Antioch College, Ohio, in 1971. Participating in a house building job while on Antioch’s work/study program led her both to her present home on the San Juan Ridge in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and to her craft. In 1977, while helping to remodel a 16th century convent in Provence, she carved her first piece. On an old larch pole beam she carved the hollyhocks that grew in the convent garden using a small straight edge chisel found in a workroom. The old roof beam, upended, with its twining hollyhocks, became the center pole for a circular staircase. After several more years working as a finish carpenter, she began to build and carve custom wood doors and later worked for furniture maker Robert Erickson. In 1992 she began to devote herself to carving and creating her own unique wood objects. Holly has continued doing all the work on each piece from design to execution herself, in her single person studio. Drawn to natural shapes and forms, she tries to make pieces that are not only visually exciting, but a delight to handle and use. Primarily self-taught, she particularly enjoys the creation of new designs that come as a response to a particular piece of wood or to a conceptual challenge. Holly Tornheim has exhibited her work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the American Craft Council Baltimore and San Francisco Shows, and the Smithsonian Craft Show. Her work has been featured in a number of museum and gallery exhibits. SELECTED COLLECTIONS Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Topographic Tray, permanent collection SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS Award of Excellence, American Craft Show, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2008 New West Coast Design, Museum of Craft + Design, San Francisco, California, 2008 Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 2006, 2007, 2008 Coming of Age, Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2007 Spotlight Artist, Baltimore American Craft Council Show, 2007 SOFA Chicago, del Mano Gallery, 2006 Caution! Animals at Work, Wharton Esherick Museum, Best in Show, 2005 Christmas at the White House, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, 2005-2006 Turned & Sculpted Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, 2006 SOFA New York, del Mano Gallery, 2005 Selected Works, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 2005, 2007 The Perfect Collection, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts, 2004 Objects for Use: Handmade by Design, American Craft Museum, New York, New York, 2001-2002 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Prize for Excellence in Wood, 2002 Lean On, Wharton Esherick Museum, Paoli, Pennsylvania, 2001, Best in Show American Craft Council San Francisco Show 2000, Honorable Mention Newtensils, Wharton Esherick Museum, Paoli, Pennsylvania, 1999, 2nd Prize Knock on .., Target Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia, 1999 A Celebration of Sierra Woods, Nevada City, California, 1997, 1994 Tableservice Sonata, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois, 1993 Foothill Regional Arts Festival, Nevada City, California, 2nd Prize 1993, 3rd Prize 1992 Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon, two person show with Robert Erickson, 1992 
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS Objects for Use: Handmade by Design, by Paul Smith, 2001 Woodwork Magazine, Gallery, December 2000 The Art of Elegant Wood Kitchenware, by
Tony Lydgate, featured artist, 1996 |
