Wendy Osterweil doesn't consider herself "retired" from teaching at Temple University's Tyler School of Art. She prefers the term "rewired." Now a full-time printmaker and textile artist, Osterweil brings her vibrant woodcut prints to Awbury Arboretum's Cope House Gallery in an exhibition titled "Among Worlds," running March 4 through April 29.

The exhibition showcases Osterweil's exploration of mythology, nature and her experiences as a traveler, educator, gardener and Philadelphian.

"I work by hand, by touch, by tactile and visual interactions with the physical world," Osterweil said. "A sense of play informs my work throughout the process of creating and carving woodcut prints."

This tactile approach has been central to Osterweil's artistic practice for decades. The Mt. Airy resident, who has lived in Northwest Philadelphia for over 30 years (including 24 years in Mt. Airy after living at three different locations in Germantown), describes herself as "an artist, hiker, gardener, explorer, gatherer, traveler, writer, surface designer, dyer, seamstress, maker, questioner, learner and teacher." For her, working by hand is essential to how she understands the world.

"When I begin work, I take time to play without having any specific purpose, project or predictable outcome," Osterweil explains. "I love to create patterns and observe the serendipity that happens in repeating a motif or image through printmaking."

Osterweil's path to becoming a professional artist was anything but linear. "I can't even count how many jobs I've had, definitely over 30," she once told the Chestnut Hill Local. Her journey with handmade clothing began early – in junior high school, she and her girlfriends would shop for fabric and make skirts together at someone's house. After earning a master's degree in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987, she worked her way through numerous positions before teaching art at Germantown Academy for 14 years, working with both Lower School and Middle School students. She then joined Tyler School of Art as an Associate Professor of Art Education for 15 years before "rewiring."

Her artistic process draws inspiration from her travels, with photographs serving as visual research for her images. "Fragments of narratives speak through me from various times in history," she explained. This approach is evident in the "Among Worlds" exhibition, where viewers can see how her global perspectives inform her printmaking.

In the late 1980s to early 1990s, Osterweil served as the Artistic Director of Prints in Progress, a community arts organization with five after-school neighborhood workshops throughout Philadelphia. It was there that she learned silkscreen printing on fabric, a technique that would later become integral to her wearable art practice.

While Osterweil's current exhibition primarily features woodcuts, linocuts, monoprints, and silkscreen printing, her artistic repertoire extends beyond traditional printmaking. For the past seven years, she has created unique "art garments" including jackets, dresses, tops, tunics, vests, and men's shirts – all crafted with the same attention to detail and artistic vision that characterizes her prints.

"I am not in competition with any other clothing venues," Osterweil said of her handcrafted garments. "I am a working artisan artist. I love making unique one-of-a-kind art clothing… 'Slow clothes' take time, and they take love, love for the materials and for the process of making by hand."

Her textile work involves printing with fiber reactive and natural dyes on natural fiber cloth such as 100% cotton, linen, viscose, and bamboo rayon. She designs imagery with papercuts or hand drawings to make prints with silkscreens that repeat on the fabrics.

What truly distinguishes Osterweil's work is her dedication to natural dyeing processes. She collects raw materials such as acorns, staghorn sumac berries and leaves, marigolds, coneflower, indigo, and onion skins. She then cooks the plant material to extract the natural dye and soaks the prepared fabric in the dye liquid before printing and sewing it into a garment.

Each piece of her wearable art is what she calls "a three-dimensional collage that moves through the world on a human body." Even during the pandemic, Osterweil found that people were drawn to her work. "We still all have the need for beautiful things and to feel special, even though many of us are still working at home," she noted.

As co-founder of Prints Link Philadelphia, Osterweil continues to share her passion for printmaking with the next generation. The group brings together teaching artists, schools, museums, art centers, and community arts organizations to promote printmaking to teens and children in the Philadelphia area.

Her recent exhibitions include "Confluence: Teaching, Making, Ideation, Innovation" at InLiquid Gallery near Northern Liberties and "How Green is the New Black" at the Kemmerer Museum of Decorative Arts in Bethlehem. The "Among Worlds" exhibition at Awbury represents an important evolution in her artistic journey, highlighting the connection between her printmaking roots and her deep appreciation for the natural world.

An opening reception with the artist will be held March 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, offering visitors an opportunity to meet Osterweil and gain deeper insight into her creative process. During the exhibition's run, visitors will be able to see how her printmaking techniques and natural dyeing processes complement each other, reflecting her holistic approach to art-making.

Awbury Arboretum is at One Awbury Road. For more information about the exhibition, visit awbury.org. To learn more about Osterweil's wearable art, visit wendyosterweil.com or email her at wosterweil@comcast.net.