Q: What is Pyrography?

A: It is much easier to show than tell. Essentially this medium is a blend of “Wood Crafting” and “Fine Art”. Pyrograph simply means “burned picture”. The technique is very much like etching or engraving, the key difference being the way the tool gets the image into the surface. The tool is basicaly a small electric branding iron; it is used to scorch the image into the surface of the wood, leather, or other media (even some papers). The most common surface used for pyrography is wood, so the most common term familiar to people for the art is “wood burning”. The hand piece is about the length of a pen, and approximately as big around as a dime. Other techniques are used such as stain, paint, and other methods to add color to some pieces.

Q: What is the difference between “burning” and engraving, as far as what is involved?

A: It is a bit more involved than engraving, the heat adds a bit to the challenge of working the image. The advantage to the heat is the varying tones I can achieve. By varying the speed of the tip across the wood, one can control the value of the burn, what that means is that you can shade, and unless you are “hatching” or “pixilating”, you can’t do that with an engraving tool. The burns also are much darker than an etched or engraved piece, which gives it a very crisp contrast… In essence, it is a little more difficult, but gives you a broader range of other methods of textures, tonal values, and what you can do.

Q: How long has Pyrography been around?

A: Pyrography is such an old art form it is really unknown where it began. As long as it has been around however, it is still a rare and little-known medium. Almost anyone has seen many paintings in their life, but most people have never heard of pyrography. As an artist I can tell you it is much more difficult to burn a good image into wood than it is to paint it. It is probably the most challenging medium that I have worked with. Pyrography has a very unique and rustic look, and as difficult as it can be, I love it.

Q: Do you do special requests for customers?

A: It is hard to know if I sell more of my own original work, or custom pieces… I welcome any and all special requests, custom made means just that… each item made is tailored to each individual client I have. I think a piece should fit the client and there personality, or what they love. I will do anything that is requested of me. I have had clients find me after they have been turned away from other artists who weren’t interested in doing a piece they had in mind. I have not turned away any request as being “beneath” me, or because I wasn’t in the mood for that type of picture. I have done very simple signs or just engraved names for people. The only limit I have established is that it must be decent. I will even do nude figures, but in poses that do not expose any “questionable parts”. If I can work on it while my children are around, then it is OK... or as my wife will tell me, if I would show it to my grandma. (laugh)

Q: What kinds of things have you done for people?

A: That is a tougher one to answer… I’ve done landscapes, portraits, pets, other animals, career themes, scenic pieces, awards, retirement plaques, hobbies, people’s homes, recreation or sport themes, bridals, wedding pictures, religious themes… pretty much whatever people think of I have done, and I am sure someone will ask me if I can do something else for them, and I will say yes.

 

Q: You have a long background in art; do you still work in other mediums?

A: I draw a lot; I don’t know how you can really do original work in any medium if you don’t do a lot of sketching. I have designed logos for a few companies or individuals. I really don’t paint much any more, not because I didn’t like it, but because I am usually devoting my time to the pyrographed pieces I am working on… I wish I had more time for that as it is. I am starting to experiment in mixed medias, so I can incorporate paint and other mediums into the pyrography, but the pure wood burned images are still my favorite.

Q: Where did the name “Silver Fox” come from, and why do you sign your pictures that way?

A: This will seem funny… the idea first came to me I suppose from a cartoon my brother and I watched when we were younger. A fox was trying to become silver and painted himself because he knew the silver fox was so rare and highly sought after by celebrities. After he is put into a cage and learns that it is his hide they are after, he spends the rest of his time trying to escape. I looked up “silver fox”, (In the old days when an encyclopedia was a hard bound book, and you could find dinosaur bones that still had meat on them.) and found that in addition to referring to an artic fox, it was also a reference to a rare type of red fox.

The Red Fox occasionally gives birth to a pup with black fur, the “black fox”. Even rarer are the occurrences when that black fox will have white tips on the ends of its fur, giving it a silverfish appearance… the “silver fox”. As you can imagine, the silver fox’s fur has always been extremely valuable because of its rarity. After doodling in the jacket to my calculator in a high school chemistry class I came up with what is now my logo. I started signing my art as “Silver Fox” and it just stuck with me. It seemed like the perfect name for my art business when I began selling and accepting commissions for my wood burnings. “Silver Fox” is a name that, to me is a symbol of individuality and value, qualities I have tried to embrace in my art and business.

Q: How long does it take to burn a picture?

A: Well, each piece is different depending on the detail and how much “dark” is in the piece. It is a slow process, and takes a great deal of patience. An 8x10 can take me anywhere from 12 to 20 hours to burn. A completely original piece will often have a greater amount of time in the design and composition, and even the original drawing that I transfer to the wood, than what it takes to actually burn the piece.

A: Any where I can. I have done pieces from a single photo, and I have desighned a piece from a vision in my head using many references to put it all together. I normally get an idea, and then start hunting around for pictures to help me reference the details I need.

 

Most pieces I do are from many pictures and a little from my head. I also have seen things like an old barn and get a picture of it because I like it. I have hundreds of pictures kicking around and sometimes I run across one that inspires me at the moment and design a piece around it.

 

I guess it is different for each piece, but the longer I can be patient with an idea, the more it will come together for me and the better it will turn out. I have rushed some pieces and not been happy with them. The longest I spent with an idea was "Unbroken" The scetch was completely original, I did it when I was 17 (1991). I burned two pieces, an 8x10 in 2005, and the final 24x24" piece in 2007. The final piece I did was about 16 years after the original scetch. I guess that is a long time to toss an idea around, but it is also my favorite piece to date.