Wilson, Wendell E.
Wendell Eugene Wilson was born in Minnesota in 1946, and began collecting minerals in 1956. A life-long artist, he studied at the Minneapolis Institute of Art while still in high school and began selling his artworks as a young teenager. He won numerous awards in art, including first place in a statewide cartooning competition in 1959. In college he pursued a double-major in Fine Art and Geology at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1969. He earned his M.S. in Mineralogy (1972) from Arizona State University, while field-collecting extensively in Arizona's many abandoned mines and famous mineral localities. After obtaining his PhD in Mineralogy (1976) from the University of Minnesota, he was hired by the Mineralogical Record as full-time Editor and eventually rose to the positions of Editor-in-Chief, Publisher and corporation CEO.
In addition to collecting minerals, Wilson has built substantial collections of mining artifacts of all kinds, and published four books on antique miners' lamps, containing hundreds of hand-drawn pen-and-ink illustrations of miners' oil-wick “frog” lamps, candleholders, and carbide cap lamps. Some of his collectibles appear as props in his paintings of underground scenes. His first mineral painting appeared on the cover of the November-December 1972 issue of Mineralogical Record. His series of fantasy mineral-collecting scenes now numbers 14, and he has produced numerous specimen portraits in oil on canvas, watercolor, India ink and mixed media, as well as a number of highly detailed mining still life paintings in oil on canvas, oil on copper, and India ink.
Over the years Wilson has continued to produce artworks regularly as time permits. He has published over 1,000 mineral and mining artworks, and over 6,500 mineral photographs. His publications include over 270 journal articles in mineralogy, over 400 shorter works (book reviews, etc.), and nearly 2,000 biographies of mineralogists and other people in the mineral world. He also founded the Antiquarian Reprint Series as a method of preserving and distributing very rare, early illustrated mineral books, featuring mineral art from before the age of photography.
The new mineral species wendwilsonite was named in his honor in 1987; he was elected a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America in 1989; he was presented with the Carnegie Mineralogical Award for 2001 (“in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of mineralogy”); and his mineral collection won the Paul E. Desautels Memorial Trophy (the highest honor in mineral collecting) in 2013. Wilson continues to publish the Mineralogical Record and to write about, paint, research, photograph and collect minerals in Tucson, Arizona (e-mail: minrecord@comcast.net).
References:
Mitchell, R. S. (1988) Who's who in mineral names: Wendell Eugene Wilson, Jr. and Ignacio Domeyko. Rocks & Minerals, 63, 400-402.
Robinson, S. (1987) Mineral art today. Rocks & Minerals, 62, 328-343.
Robinson, S. (1987) Of mines and men: a look at art that depicts mining. Rocks & Minerals, 64, 476-495.
Grossular from the Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestos, Quebec
Watercolor and colored pencil on art board, 9 x 12 inches (2005), based on a loose 1.5-cm crystal in the Smithsonian collection, with matrix added from a different Jeffrey Quarry specimen. Prepared on commission from Martin Zinn for use in advertising his 2006 Tucson Shows. Original painting in the Martin Zinn collection.
Tanzanite on Diopside
Watercolor and prismacolor pencil on art board, 9 x 12 inches (2001). An imaginary specimen, based on studies of several different pecimens, painted on commission for Martin Zinn. Xerographically reproduced on cotton paper as a signed and numbered print, edition of 200, distributed with the 2001 Mineralogical Record Christmas card. Copyright 2001 Wendell E. Wilson.
Tiger Wulfenite
Watercolor and prismacolor pencil on art board, 9 x 12 (2000). Reconstruction of a damaged thumbnail specimen of wulfenite from the Mammoth-St. Anthony mine, Tiger, Arizona, in the Smithsonian collection. Copyright 2000 Wendell E. Wilson. Painting: Dick Morris collection, Phoenix.
Colombian Emerald
Colored pencil and watercolor on board, 9 x 12 inches (1998). Painted from a miniature specimen of Colombian emerald on matrix in the collection of Martin Zinn. Copyright 1998 Wendell E. Wilson.
Autunite, Pend Orielle County, Washington
Watercolor on sheepskin vellum (1992), 8 x 10 inches. Painted from a Chris Wright thumbnail specimen.
Elmwood Calcite
Watercolor and prismacolor pencil, 9 x 12 (2004). Painted from a miniature specimen of calcite from the Elmwood mine, Tennessee, on commission from the specimen owner, Joe Kielbaso. Copyright 2004 Wendell E. Wilson.
Elmwood Fluorite
Watercolor and prismacolor pencil, 9 x 12 (2003). Painted from a cabinet specimen of fluorite from the Elmwood mine, Tennessee, on commission from the specimen owner, Lawrence Conklin. Copyright 2004 Wendell E. Wilson.
Amazonas Gold-1
Watercolor and prismacolor pencil, 9 x 12 (2004). Painted from a small miniature specimen of gold from the Amazonas region of Brazil, on commission from the specimen owner, Marty Zinn. Copyright 2004 Wendell E. Wilson.
Rob Lavinsky, Wendell Wilson, and Susan Robinson.