About Holly Tornheim
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, solar-powered 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, Vessel II, permanent collection
• Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts – Bowl, permanent collection
Selected Publications
• Objects for Use: Handmade by Design, by Paul Smith, 2001
• Woodwork Magazine, Gallery, December 2000
• Cores Recycled, by The Center for Art in Wood, 2015
• Poplar Culture, by The Wharton Esherick Museum and Paul Eisenhauer, 2012
• Western Art & Architecture, Illuminations, February/March 2018
Selected Exhibitions & Awards
• Honoring the Future Sustainability Award, Virtual Smithsonian Craft Show, 2021
• Award of Excellence for Art in Wood, Collectors of Wood Art, American Craft Council Baltimore Show, 2019
• Award of Excellence, San Francisco American Craft Council Show, 2017
• DC Current, Messler Gallery, Rockport, Maine, 2016
• Across the Grain: Turned and Carved Wood, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts, 2013
• Design Intelligence – Living with Design, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland, 2013
• Sticks and Stones, First Place, Wharton Esherick Museum, Paoli, Pennsylvania, 2012
• CORES, Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2012
• A Taste for Spoons, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts, 2012
• Poplar Culture, Wharton Esherick Museum, Pennsylvania, 2012
• Inside & Outside the Box, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 2011
• Is Ornament a Crime? Re-thinking the Role of Decoration in Contemporary Wood, CWA special exhibit, SOFA Chicago, 2010
• A Gathering of Spoons, American Association of Woodturners Gallery of Wood Art, 2010
• Award of Excellence, Baltimore American Craft Council Show, 2010
• Award of Excellence, American Craft Council, 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, 2012
• Coming of Age, Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2007
• Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, Ohio, 2007
• Spotlight Artist, Baltimore American Craft Council Show, 2007
• SOFA Chicago, del Mano Gallery, 2006, 2010, 2011
• 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, 2012
• 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
Address
17894 Tyler Foote Road
Nevada City, CA 95959
Call
(530) 292-3367
htornheim@me.com