I come from a fine art background and never really like being conventional so began explore ways that I could develop my pyrography. This has ranged from using fire as a method of making to introducing metals into my work to give them an extra dimension. I have also decided to streamline my practice so that I'm not trying to do everything to please everyone, so to speak.
The image above shows what my stand would look like at a typical craft fair last year. Its got the usual pyrographer's fare; wooden spoons, rolling pins, keyrings etc, etc. But craft fairs aren't always what they're cracked up to be. Initially I thought I would do well to start with lots of small items that were affordable and features designs that were fairly generic and have wide appeal. Sometimes I would sell quite a few, other times not so many. In fact more than I like to admit I only just covered my costs of attending such a fair. Now I'm trying to run a business so it can't all be about the art... or can it?
About August last year I realised that trying to cover all the bases by having lots of small generic items was all well and good but that I wasn't selling enough consistently to cover my outgoings, and that I actually did a lot better through commissioned work, such as that below.
The sale of one commission was usually many times that of the small items that I was trying to sell; also they usually came about because the customer had seen something special that I had made as a show piece. So what have I concluded? Well for a start I'm going to just do the kind of art I like and if it sells it sells. I am thinking that it will probably lead to more commissions than anything else, which is fine and dandy too. Fortunately I like nature and history and those seem to be popular subjects so I should do alright. I also like to do strange things, let my imagination run away abit, which leads us to...
Bowl burning yea! I'm certainly no wood turner but I have found a way to make bowls - pyro style! Essentially this is an old old technique that involes burning out the centre of a section of wood, then using a bent knife or another suitable tool to scrape out the interior and hey presto! My ideas regarding this were also to incorporate metal but I'll come that a little later.
So yesterday morning started well, with the birds singing and the sun shining and I thought why not spoil that for the neighbours and light a fire in the back garden. Soon I had a fairly good (and smokey) fire going, so all I had to do was wait for the firewood to reduce down to hot coals. *Here's a tip, save a bit of time and effort and use those BBQ coals in the ready-to-light bag, then you can add wood if you need to.
As you can see from the photo, the hot coals are place into the centre of your bowl-to-be and allowed to burn. A gentle blow every now and then helps the process, though be careful you don't burn your whiskers! After X amount of time (depends on the wood and the thickness so be your own judge) you empty the coals back onto your fire then take your bent knife and scrape out the charred wood. Then repeat the process until you're happy with it.
I can't show you any further with this because this is as far as I got. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take but in retrospect I realise the process will take at least a day. The wood was pretty green too, having been cut in March, and also thick; so these factors may have impeded the burn. What is interesting (at least to me) is the deep cracks that have appeared as a result. It was my intention to get cracks but whether thats because of the wood's moisture I don't know. My plans for this project is to season the wood that I have cut already for a year then see what happens with this method, also to make shallower bowls, again to see what happens.
And finally I get to the cracks of the matter (sorry bad pun). It was an idea of mine to pour molten metal into the cracks to give the pieces an amazing light/dark burst pattern, eminating from the centre. I will still do this but following my little experiment I may have to alter my idea.
I burnt this piece of sycamore using the hot coals method (not restricted to bowls, art can be any shape), then melted pewter down ready to pour into the cracked wood. Why pewter? Two reasons, its got a really low melting point so I don't have to invest in a forge, and also I really like pewter its got character.
Not sure if you can see what has happened but let me explain. The molten pewter basically just sat on top of the wood instead of disappearing down the cracks. Some pewter slightly went into the bigger cracks but mostly this would constitute a disaster for my whole metal/burnt bowl project. I don't have any one solution as yet; one idea is that I use resin and gold leaf to fill in the cracks and oddly enough this was the very first plan before i thought of melting metal, so it would still be awesome I'm sure. Another possibility is that I create larger cracks and use the pewter though I think that would depend on the character of the wood. I'm sure something will spring to mind anyhow :)
I've enjoyed setting things on fire and stepping away from the Peter Childs to try something new and different; and I feel that I would like to explore this more sculptural route whilst continuing to develop my common, or garden pyrography skills.
No idea when I'll sit down to write another post but if you've stayed with me to the end of this one then have a great big thanks muchly from me.
Rich :)
