Who is Andy DiPietro
- Andy is a self-taught wood sculptor living in Burlington, New Jersey.
- Professionally, he’s trained as a mechanical design engineer — he has a BSME (Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering).
- For over 20 years, he’s balanced his technical background with his love for art, channeling that into sculptural wood art.
🪵 Artistic Style & Approach
- Andy’s work as a fusion of “Art and Engineering.” He selects hardwoods with unusual coloration and figure — wood whose grain and natural character help produce striking results.
- He carves wood while it’s wet, then lets it slowly dry — a technique he developed after many years of experimentation. The process gives his pieces distinctive fluidity, depth and movement.
- His sculptures frequently evoke organic, flowing forms: folds of fabric, waves, undulating vessels — sometimes reminiscent of water or movement in nature.
- After carving, he enhances the wood grain through techniques like sandblasting, staining or dyeing, and applying oil finishes — emphasizing grain flow, texture, and wood figure.
🏆 Recognition & Exhibitions
Andy’s wood art is widely recognized among wood-art aficionados and has been featured in notable publications and exhibitions:
- His pieces appeared in journals and magazines like American Woodturner, Creative Woodturning New Zealand, and Woodturning Magazine (England).
- Some of his sculpture titles — e.g. “Fiore Rosso”, “Torrent”, “Rising”, “Marbleized Maple” — have toured nationally through juried exhibitions of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) in years such as 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018.
- He was invited as an artist in the 2015 AAW juried exhibition.
- In 2013, his sculpture “Entwined” — made from spalted elm — earned an AAW Excellence Award.
- More recently (2022), he won a Sculpture Jurors Award from New Hope Arts for his undulating bowl series.
🧑🔧 What Makes His Work Stand Out
- The combination of engineering discipline + artistic creativity: his background in mechanical design gives him a precision and structural understanding — but he uses that as a base for organic, flowing forms rather than rigid, mechanical shapes.
- Mastery of wood’s natural beauty: Rather than hide the wood’s grain or imperfections, Andy uses and enhances them — often selecting woods with “uncommon figure” and working with their inherent qualities.
- Fluid, dynamic forms: Many of his pieces suggest movement — folds, waves, flowing surfaces — which is unusual in traditional woodturning or woodcraft.
- Attention to finish and texture: By sandblasting, dying, and oil-finishing, he reveals the wood’s depth in a way that emphasizes not only shape but also tactile and visual richness.
