Wendi Schneider

Wendi Schneider (born 1955) is an American artist and photographer based in Denver, Colorado, known for her photographs of nature and wildlife that are often printed on paper vellum or kozo with hand-applied layers of gold leaf on verso. Gilded vellum and kozo photographs from her ongoing "States of Grace" series have been exhibited in more than 100 gallery and museum exhibitions nationally and abroad. When she shifted her artistic focus to photography, she sought to integrate her painting background by layering paints and glazes on her photographic prints to "create a more personal impression." After college, she remained in New Orleans and worked for The Times-Picayune, where she photographed, designed, and produced the award-winning 1987 edition of The Picayune's Creole Cook Book. The following year, Schneider moved to New York City, where she photographed for Victoria Magazine while continuing her fine art photography work During this time, her work often appeared on book covers for authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Anne Rice, Iris Johansen, Jodi Thomas and more. In 1991, she exhibited a collection of hand-painted photographs titled Mille Fleur at A Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans, In 1994, she left New York for Denver, where she still lives today, and later put her fine art practice on hold while she raised her son and worked in commissioned photography, art direction, and design. Soon after, she began work on her ongoing States of Grace series, and its three attendant sub-series – Flora, Fauna, and Figura – which illustrate Schneider's "affinity for wildlife and the natural world". States of Grace has traveled worldwide.

Schneider's most recent series, Evenings with the Moon "engages the moon as muse." and The Gallery at Mr. Pool in Boulder, CO.

Schneider has been selected as a Finalist for Photolucida's international juried exhibition Critical Mass in 2017, and 2020. She has taught workshops at the Southeast Center for Photography and A Smith Gallery.

Awards

2014: Black & White Magazine, Best Single Image, Animals 2016: International Color Awards, 2nd Place, Merit of Excellence Wildlife 2016: San Diego Natural History Museum Best of Nature, First place 2016: 9th Annual Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Single Image, Nude/Figure 2017: Neutral Density Photography Awards, Honorable Mention 2017: Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, International Exhibit, Third place, Nature, Science, and Animals 2017: Animalia, Director's Selection, The Center for Fine Art Photography 2017: Gala Awards, First place, Urban & Rural Landscape 2018: National Association of Women Artists, Silver, Small Works, Works on Paper 2018: American Photography 34 2018: Moscow International Photo Awards, Bronze, Nature 2018: Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3), Bronze, Fine Art, Landscape 2019: San Francisco Bay Month of Photography, Gold 2020: Px3, Nature/Trees, Gold