Glenn Wolff Brings the Angels to Harbor Springs

July 24, 2011

Glenn Wolff Brings the Angels to Harbor Springs
By Kristi Kates
Traverse City native Glenn Wolff’s artwork can be seen all over Northern
Michigan and far beyond, including the pages of many magazines, books and
newspapers such as the New York Times. Now, he’s making his mark on Harbor
Springs.
As of July 21, Wolff’s art has been on display at the Kuhlhaus Gallery in
Harbor Springs. Gallery owner Tim Coon, who co-owns Kuhlhaus with his
wife, Helen, was drawn to Wolff’s work for a wide variety of reasons.
“Glenn’s work is unique, for sure,” Coon says, “he uses a wide diversity
of fascinating materials and subjects, and many of his pieces are quite
ethereal.”
One of those pieces, titled Angels Over Harbor, takes a typical Up North
scene familiar to many artists of the region and turns it right on its
head.
“The view from the bluff overlooking Harbor Springs, while beautiful, is a
very common and typical view often repeated by various artists,” Coon
explains, “Glenn did a version of that view several years ago - it was
long and narrow, done in his style of course, and painted on a board made
out of small, 1-inch slats of wood, like a fence but closer together. It
was a night scene of the bluff view - but painted with little golden
angels hovering over Harbor Springs.”

DIVERSE DISPLAYS
Although Wolff spent college time in Minneapolis and career time as a
freelance illustrator in New York City, he returned to his favorite “Up
North” locale in 1987, and has been a fixture in TC ever since,
illustrating numerous books and promoting his own unique, colorful, and
distinctive brand of fine art in galleries across the U.S.
Ranging from “extraordinarily detailed to extraordinarily spare,” as Coon
puts it, Angels Over Harbor is just one example of Wolff’s unique view on
the subjects that he paints. Another piece, titled Peninsula, is a study
in subtlety.
“Peninsula, I think probably referring to the Leelanau Peninsula, was
simply a board that was 10 feet long by 10 inches wide,” Coon says, “at
first glance, it didn’t look like much. But then you would see all the
subtleties that Glenn had added to the wood.”
“It sold, of course,” Coon smiles, “Glenn’s work has been one of our best
sellers, for sure.”
For Wolff’s latest showing at Kuhlhaus, Coon says they’ve acquired “as
much of his recent work as we could gather,” sure to include a diverse
range of Wolff’s quirky choices of color, interpretation, and subject
matter. The talented artist, whose fans range well beyond Northern
Michigan, has worked hard for his success and the expansion of his
talents, “and he’s a nice guy, too,” Coon says.

Glenn Wolff’s works will be exhibited at Kuhlhaus Art in Harbor Springs
(294 East Third Street, telephone 231-526-4204) from July 21-August 3. For
more info on Glenn Wolff, visit www.glennwolff.com; for more info on
Kuhlhaus, visit them online as well at www.kuhlhausart.com.