All artwork and website contents © 2005, 2006, 2007 Cindy Servis. Unless otherwise noted.
Contents not to be used without express written permission and proper credit to the artist.
Pyrography is one of the oldest artforms known to man. The act of creating a picture with with burnt wood started with the cavemen who created fire. They learned that the charred remains of burnt wood, when dragged across their cave walls created intricate patterns that added a dark quality to the ochre and iron colors that they already used for their artwork. This naturally progressed into using a hot coal ended sticks to burn intricate designs onto the smooth pelts that they used for clothing.
The creation of these beautiful works of art during this time took a great deal of skill and the creators were often thought to have been given supernatural powers. The artists were often held in high esteem perhaps just below the level of shaman and medicine men of their tribes. The work of these artists helped their cultures to progress by allowing them a unique source to trade with other clans for items that were not in their area but that they needed.
Modern day pyrography is quite different from the pyrography of yesteryear. The mediums are the same, and the work is similar as well, but the tools have become very advanced over the years. Aside of the traditional soldering iron style pens, there are now variable temperature pens with many different tips for creating specific textures and widths of line. A different pen is used for writing than is used for the straight intersecting lines needed to create realistic fur and there are many many selections of pen styles to choose from.
Pyrography is used to enhance the fur, fin and feather structure on intricate carvings, it is used to create beautiful tonal qualities on leather and flat peices of wood, and lastly, it is used to enhance the beauty of a peice of wood that can be used for anything from bed frames to gunstocks.
In the past, pyrography was thought of as a craft, but due to the dedicated efforts of extremely talented pyrography artists around the globe, it is steadily gaining esteem as one of the more difficult forms of artwork. The ability to create a steady evenly toned line across grain is likened to driving a boat across a sand point and back to the water. It demands control, pressure and resistance sensitivity, and an eye that has the ability to notice subtle changes in value within the burned line.
