Pyrography, It's not just a pretty picture!

I love pyrography! For those who aren't familiar with pyrography it is a very old art form once called poker art. People would sit around the hearth or campfire and place a poker in the fire and then draw on wood with it. These days most pyrographers use electric tools to create their art and some even use the sun and a magnifying glass. I use a Walnut Hollow burner I purchased at wally world.

I work very hard on each piece I create to achieve very detailed realism. I select each piece of wood based on the grain and direction of the grain and how it works with my idea for that particular burn. I cut the wood myself and hand sand it till it is buttery smooth.

Once I start burning a picture I find it hard to stop and finish it in one night. Other times it may take days or even weeks to finish depending on how big and the amount of detail involved.

I love it when someone looks at my work and compliments how much it looks like the photo. I realized the other day while in a chatroom on Etsy that alot of people think my work is a painting! I was very disappointed about that. I was like "Damn, can't you people see each stroke I burned to make that fur look real?" "Are you people blind or what?" "Don't you know how many times I burned my fingers to make that?" I didn't really say that but it was sure going through my mind! Then while in the chatroom one guy went to my Etsy shop at RavenWolfArt.com He said he had to do a double take cause he thought he read "Custom Pornography" instead of Custom Pyrography! All I could do was laugh! "So when you go to my Etsy shop at Ravenwolfart.com and see my work, keep in mind that it's not JUST a pretty picture"!