Terra Incognita (2008) copyrighted © by Dan Olfe. All rights reserved.

 

 

San Diego Library #1 (2015) copyrighted © by Dan Olfe. All rights reserved.

 

 

The Broad Museum of Art (2018) copyrighted © by Dan Olfe. All rights reserved.

 

 

Wave Topography (2003) copyrighted © by Dan Olfe. All rights reserved.

 

 

Hillcrest Cinemas (2014) copyrighted © by Dan Olfe. All rights reserved.

 

About the Artist Dan Olfe (born 1935)
Compiled by Clare MacQueen

“My interests in art are simple,“ says the California-based, autodidactic artist. “I enjoy the beauty of lines, shapes, and colors.”

Although he points out that art was an important part of his early life, Olfe studied engineering and physics in college, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Princeton University and a doctorate from California Institute of Technology (the latter in 1960).

“I started creating art quilts in 1997, after a 30-year career as an engineering professor (primarily at the University of California, San Diego). I selected quilts for my art medium because, in our home, my wife [Julie] and I have always enjoyed fiber art for its warmth and color.”

Dan Olfe, Alice Art Gallery Princeton (circa 2023)

“Because of my technical background, it was natural for me to create my designs on a computer. Although my early designs were created using a variety of 2-D and 3-D software programs, in recent years I have primarily used Photoshop to modify and layer my photos and abstract images. After my designs are digitally printed on cloth, I use a sewing machine to create a quilted wall hanging.”

Evolution of Design:

“I started in 1997 by making pieced quilts (1997–1999). For these quilts, I created a computer design to use as a guide for cutting and placing the fabric.

“Later, for more detailed designs, I hand-painted each quilt top on whole cloth. Again, I created my designs on a computer and printed them on paper as a guide. (See painted quilts [2000–2003] at my website.)

“The next shift in my design process came when it became possible to print computer designs directly on fabric. My quilts then featured rendered images of 3D designs (98 quilts with 3D designs [2003–2010]).

“For a later series I created abstract designs by layering textures in Photoshop. I downloaded some textures from the internet and created others with my camera (37 Texture Experiments [2011-2017]).

“For my next designs, I collaged or layered my own photos (2014–2018).

“More recently, my designs consisted of color squares and rectangles (2018–2020), with each design featuring the colors of a well-known artist. To obtain the colors I used single-pixel wide scans of photos of the artist’s work.

“I am using 3D software for my current designs (2020–2024).”

Awards and Exhibitions:

Art quilts by Dan Olfe have won several awards in exhibitions at the Visions Museum of Textile Art in San Diego, including the Miriam Machell Award for Beauty at Interpretations 2019, the Jill Le Croissette Memorial Award at Quilt Visions 2018, the New Directions Award at Interpretations 2017, and the Surface Design Award at Quilt Visions 2008.

In addition, Olfe’s quilts and fiber artworks have appeared in major national juried exhibitions, including:

• Interpretations 2021 (Visions Museum of Textile Art, San Diego);
  
  
• Pushing the Surface 2021 (Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Ohio);
  
  
• Quilt National 2021 (The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Ohio);
  
  
• Southern California Contemporary Quilts 2020 (Oceanside Museum of Art);
  
  
• Quilt Visions 2020 (Visions Museum of Textile Art, San Diego);
  
  
• Art Quilt Elements 2018 (Wayne Art Center, Pennsylvania);
  
  
• Man-Made: Contemporary Male Quilters, 2015–2016, a traveling exhibition including quilts by Dan Olfe and seven other artists, organized by the Craft & Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles. Man-Made was exhibited for six months (27 June – 27 December 2015) at the Asheville Art Museum in North Carolina, before making its final appearance (16 February – 19 June 2016) at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  
  
• Art Quilt Elements 2016, as well as 2014 (Wayne Art Center, Pennsylvania);
  
  
• Quilt National 2017, as well as 2013 and 2007 (The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Ohio);
  
  
• International TECHstyle Art Biennial 2012, aka ITAB (San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, California); and
  
  
• Modern Materials: The Art of the Quilt, a 2009 traveling exhibition curated by Jill Rumoshosky Werner (Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma).
  
  

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Dan Olfe’s website with image galleries and contact info

⚡ Spotlight: Dan Olfe, Quilt Artist, an interview in Create Whimsy (January 2024), with details about the artist’s process and materials

⚡ Artists to Watch: Dan Olfe (Julian, California) in Issue 7 of Art Quilt Collector (5 May 2020), published by SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates)

⚡ man-made at CAFAM, photo-essay by Patricia Belyea in okan arts (30 April 2015), in response to the Man-Made exhibition by eight contemporary male quilters at the Craft & Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles