Monday, July 07, 2008

Playing With Fire

So over the past couple of weeks, I've been thinking - how do I rekindle a creative fire in myself after a rough time? And I decided the best way to do that would be with....FIRE! :)

These are two of my first fire paintings. Using a woodburning tool, I have created these two ACEOs by burning the design on mat board.



The first is called "Baby Blue", and it is a fire painting of a baby bluebird I photographed recently. My photo stunk (came out too blurry), but I took the pose and turned it into something artistic.





This second design features a little hamster, hiding under a large mushroom during a rain storm. It's titled "Waiting Out the Storm".

The art of wood burning is called "Pyrography". I have worked with this craft about 20 years ago. I made several gifts for family members one year (my mother still has the pineapple design I did for her on her kitchen wall!). I picked up a wood burning tool last week and of course, I started re-orienting myself to the tool by using some wood. I have a bunch of mat boards in the studio, and I thought, I wonder what would happen if I used this material instead of wood? At first I was afraid I'd catch the house on fire, but I soon learned this tool is very good at burning this material in a controlled way.

I love the sepia tones that come out as a result of using this burner on paper like this. It's a totally natural look, and simple. And hey, the way my life's been lately, I'm all for simple. :)

I think tomorrow I'll work on a larger piece to see how that comes out.

--Jai

2 comments:

Artist Anika said...

Beautiful work. I absolutely love the bird. How do you get that feathered look in your pyrography? I can do details, but nothing with that type of texture.

Wonderful job!

Jai Johnson • JaiArt.Com said...

Anika, honestly, I don't know how I got the feathered look! It just worked out that way. :) Thanks so much for your kind comments! --Jai