Tony Drehfal — Wood Engraver

Tony is a wood engraver, printmaker, and photographer, living and working in the woods of northern Wisconsin. He has been making wood engravings since 2002. His teacher is Jim Horton, founder of the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN), an organization promoting relief printmaking, and in particular, engraving upon end-grain wood. Tony is also the editor for Block & Burin, the newsletter of WEN, and serves on the organization’s leadership team. Inspired by the lakes and woodland landscape, primarily of northern Wisconsin, Tony uses wood engraving to portray the intricate detail of the natural world.

Tony on Art and Nature

Tony finds beauty in the verdant natural world that surrounds him. He observes and portrays nature’s growth and decay, inspired by its simultaneous symmetrical and chaotic structures. He slowly absorbs his outward observations as he walks in old growth woods. Then nature’s themes and motifs emerge in his wood engravings.