TONFERNS CREATIONS
at
ARTFEST KINGSTON - Ontario
Wood-burning art of Tony Fernandes
With grateful thanks to
Lori MacDonald
having given me the chance
to participate in this event.
Pyrography is the art of decorating wood or other materials with patterns or drawing burnt into wood resulting from the controlled application of a heated stylus attached to a hand-held pen. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning.
Pyrography means "writing with fire", from the Greek "pur" (fire) and "graphos" (writing). It needs a lot of practice to control both heat and pressure on wooden surface in order to achieve the desired effect. Specialised modern pyrography tools, or using a metal implement heated in a fire, or even sunlight concentrated with a magnifying lens.
It is possible to achieve a large range of range of tones and shades over a period of time. Varying the type of tip used, the right temperature for a particular artwork, or the way the hot tip is applied to the material, all create different effects. After the design is burned in, wooden objects can be coloured, or just plain clear varnished, although my personal preference is to keep it natural. Light-coloured wood like sycamore, basswood, beech, poplar and pine are most commonly used, as their fine grain is not obtrusive, although in some cases grain features can be worked to advantage. Pyrography is also applied to leather items, using the same hot-iron technique.
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