written March 2007

 

Growing up

I grew up in Garland Utah, a small rural comunity where I lived until I was 16 years old. I was the second of five children and I always enjoyed making pictures. I really don’t think I had any particular gift… looking at the pictures my mother saved, it seems that my stick people were age appropriate, and as good as any other kids. My mother really encouraged my art because she could see that it was something I enjoyed. She made sure I was able to do it as often as I liked, enrolled me in art classes, and entered me in contests, fairs, and art competitions. Of course you will get good at something you love, and practice often. I started winning art competitions when I was 5. Most of the art classes didn’t really help me much. It seemed that I couldn’t do things the way the teachers were trying to get me to, and we were both usually frustrated.
My father was like most men of his generation, a jack of all trades. I learned the names of tools as I would hand them under the car to him. Too bad I didn’t pick up his knack for fixing cars. His wood shop however, did hold a great deal of interest for me. I remember my father pulling a stool over to his band saw so I could reach it and he would let me cut out and create whatever I wanted out of his scrap wood and material. I admired my father for his work ethic, and for the reputation he had with all acquainted with him as an honest man and a man of integrity.
My parents were both perfectionists in there way. My mother would never let me get away with doing a mediocre job at my chores, and I was not allowed to do anything outside or go anywhere until they were done, and done right. My mother was an exceptional housekeeper. My father was as picky with the way our yard looked, and mowing and edging the lawn was the responsibility my brother and I since I was eight years old. My father was also particular about the way things got put away. I was usually annoyed when I had to drain the water from the hose and roll it up perfectly before hanging it in the shed. Later in life I would be teased at work for being so organized, and realize, as so many of us do… that I had grown up to be my parents.
This trait of being so particular and the attention to detail… in other words, being a perfectionist, would certainly come to play in my art. Every artist can draw and sketch, other than that, the mediums I enjoyed the most were water color and ink. Most of what I did was in those mediums, although I did create drawings in pencil, charcoal, and colored pencil that I entered in shows and gave away. I don’t think I have much of the work I created growing up, although I have saved many assignments from art classes in school. I had a wonderful art teacher in high school, Mr. Farr, who was very good at both pushing us to make our best better, and in bringing our own creativity and style out of us. My art abilities progressed a great deal under his instruction, and I learned a great deal about balance and composition.

My Career

I don’t have the credentials that most artists do, mostly because I had never thought of art as more than a hobby. I had honestly never considered making a living as an artist; I guess it didn’t seem very practical, but I am not sure I even thought about it enough to decide that much.
I started young (around 8) mowing lawns, washing windows, and doing odd jobs for people and local businesses. I also had three paper routs, two I delivered in the morning, and one after school. My first real job was after my family moved to Hooper Utah when I was sixteen. I was a fry cook, flipping hamburgers in a small restaurant. I actually loved that job, in fact, if it paid as well as a good career, I would go back in a second. I worked there until I was almost nineteen, when I left to serve as a missionary for the LDS Church for two years in Boston Massachusetts and the surrounding areas.
I went to college for two years and decided to be an electrician. My college education had accomplished nothing toward that goal. Special schooling would be required for four years, along with 8,000 hours of working as an apprentice. This proved to be a career I loved. It was the perfect balance of working with my hands, and being challenged mentally. There are so many aspects of that field and things to learn, and it involved a lot of math. I must be odd for an artist, but I loved math. I established myself as a good troubleshooter and service electrician. I bounced around a bit during my apprenticeship, but as a journeyman, and with children on the way I settled down with a company called ICG Electric. It was a harsh work environment; there was always a lot of pressure, rowdy rough-necks, and things always seemed to be “push-push... get it done yesterday”. Unfortunately I fit into the job perfectly. I loved working there and loved the group of guys that I worked with. The business closed down in the end of 2002, and I began working as a maintenance electrician. I struggled adjusting to the new environment, but the security and benefits made it a more family friendly job. I did enjoy my career as an electrician; I probably would have worked in that field until I retired.

Things Change

I became ill in July of 2004 and began having episodes of dizziness and blackouts. I had a lot of flu-like symptoms such as clammy spells, sick stomach, nausea, headaches, etc. Of course the blackouts and dizziness were the biggest concern with my job, and I was quickly becoming a liability. After several months it was quite clear that is was not just a bug that I was going to recover from. I was put on medical leave and given the time I needed to figure out what was going on, get it resolved, and return to work. I never was able to return. After about 3 years I finally discovered that I have a condition called Pandysautonomia (Neuropathy of the Autonomic Nervous System) it is a degenerative condition and there is no cure. Durring this time my body began to compensate and to adjust to a new “normal” and I began to function well enough to perform my daily tasks. After some futile resistance on my part, I began to adapt mentally to my new life as well. Under these circumstances I discovered Pyrography.

A New Medium

I had been talking to a gentleman at work just before I became ill about some wood working. I was carving a bear, and discovered that he was also into wood carving, I began to pick his brain about the craft. Like most things I do, I had been doing it the way I had taught myself, and he told me about better woods and knifes that propelled me forward incredibly. I even discarded the bear I had been working on and started over. He also had a basic wood burner that he was using to add detail to a moose he was carving. I loved the effect he was able to create, and it seemed to add tremendously to the look of the carving. I purchased a wood burner and used it on a couple of carvings I created, and was equally as pleased with what it had done for my own work.
I was sick, stuck at home, most of the hobbies I enjoyed I was no longer physically able to do… and here was this wood burner. I thought it might be fun to create some two-dimensional art. I found plenty of scrap pieces of wood in my shop and began to burn pictures into them. At first it was nothing earth shattering, very basic pictures as I got familiar with the equipment and experimented with different textures and effects I could create. I finally started to surf the web and soon discovered that it was not an original idea, in fact people had been creating these “wood burned” pictures longer than we really know. Because I had taught myself, I had developed my own style that other pyrographers easily recognize as mine, for that I am glad… but to see what others had and could create opened a whole new world for me and my work progressed even further.
It seemed meant to be, two great loves… art and wood working… together in one craft, I was bound to fall in love.

The Challenges of Pyrography

Because it has such a distinctive and rustic look to it, the biggest challenge has been finding the right environment in which to place the pieces. This type of art of course would not do as well in a shop or gallery that does not appeal to those who like a rustic look. I had more shops and galleries turn me down than I could possibly count. Art shows and similar events didn’t know how to categorize me either, was it Art, Wood Crafts, or what? I always got a charge from the response when I found the right setting however.
I would set up a booth at an event and get lucky, it would be absolute magic. It seemed that people can’t get enough of it. The same unique look, and quality that narrows the consumer group, also enthralls them. People would order multiple items and immediately begin referring others to me before they even asked about the cost. Others are fascinated that such work and detail is possible with such a medium and tools. It seemed that when people knew what they were looking at they were absolutely amazed, and whatever the price, it seemed to be a bargain. It was not uncommon for people to give me more money than I had asked for.
I have tried to do a variety of themes, so as not to get stuck on one theme only (such as western), no matter the subject, you can’t change the wood crafted look of pyrography. The unique look however, and the challenge of the medium are some of what I love about it. It is also what most people who see it love about it.
The excitement that this medium creates is contagious. It usually stems from the fact that although it has been around forever, many people have never seen or heard of such a thing. People are amazed at what can be created with a tool that looks like a small hot screwdriver.
As an artist that has painted, drawn, and inked for most of my life, I have found pyrography to be the most challenging medium I have worked with. It is also the most time consuming. I dream up and design a piece, and then I draw it up. I usually spend a lot of time researching and studying the subject matter, particularly if it is an animal or bird. I will look at many pictures of a subject at different angles to be sure I can reproduce the details, such as the direction fur grows, with accuracy. I get to draw it again when I transfer it onto the wood. By far the most time consuming phase is the actual burning, there is simply no way to do it fast... it is a tedious and meticulous process. It seems that in each stage the picture evolves as I fine tune anything I feel could be better.
I find that the pieces I have loved the most, are the ones where I approach each phase as if it were the entire piece. For example, I draw it as if the drawing were the final piece, not taking shortcuts on the detail because I feel that I can just add it in the next stage. Then I take the same approach to the burning, a tree in the background becomes the entire picture when I am burning it. I usually don’t like some small detail here and there in the picture because I become so focused on the little details, but by approaching it in this manor it allows me to create some finely detailed pictures and with each element receiving so much individual attention, the whole picture comes together with wonderful synergy that make the final piece one that I and the viewers enjoy.
I don’t think I have ever created a piece that I didn’t feel could have been better for one reason or another. That may seem very unsatisfying, but I have found that the talented artists with whom I associate usually feel the same way about their work. In fact, people who become good at what they do in any field are perfectionists, and they are always pushing themselves farther than they think they can go. The great ones never say, “…that is good enough.”, “…just get it done, who cares?”, and all the similar phrases most of us have heard. Of course the downside is… the perfectionists drive everyone nuts. My grandmother told me that it was OK now because people expect artists to be eccentric. Thanks Grandma.