One wood, Two wood, Pine wood, Red wood.

So I've begun a piece for a friend upon special request.  I decided, based on the subject matter, to use one of my ovals with the bark on the edge.  As far as we know, it's a redwood.  And it's very temperamental!  Which, in turn, is making me very temperamental!

*sigh*

The piece will turn out, that much I know.  But for the other ovals I still have to use.... I will be very selective over what images I burn onto them.  Like... not portraits.

Mirror, mirror

So I'd started to burn the unfinished frame of this mirror quite a long time ago.  I had a Celtic knot design, and it was so time consuming and frustrating that it was sitting undone for months.  Well, it's a piece that my sister-in-law really wanted to use at the renaissance faires we vend at, so I thought I'd better buck up and finish it.  Turns out, it would have been a lot less frustrating if I'd been using a different tip all those months ago.  The wood burner has interchangeable tips to attach to it.  The one I'd been using when I started looked kind of like a dull, squat pencil tip.  I have since found the joy of using a taper tip.  It's flat on the bottom, teardrop-shaped and perfect for shading and doing really detailed work when you use the tip of it.  So, when I picked up that mirror project to finish yesterday, I didn't feel like pulling my hair out!  Bonus!

And so, I now have a completed mirror for my sister-in-law to use.  And because she's awesome, she's giving me amazing jewelry in trade for it!

All things considered, I'm really glad I manned up and finished that project yesterday - that, along with another sign...

because last night I brought my photo album of all of my wood burnings to my weekly dance performance to have a friend pick out what she wants me to make for her.  The album became a bit more popular and I came home with not one, but three new orders with a fourth coming soon.  Dude!  So, my next big project will be starting today - a 1 foot by 1 1/2 foot piece of a horse.  This one, to be specific...

This is a photo of a 3x5" plaque.  Now, we'll see how much more detail I can get in there when it's the size of a platter!

User Friendly

And one is complete!  I finished one of my household signs last night.

This one is 12" x 2 1/2" with a sawtooth hanger on the back.  Next I'm working on one with a kind of celtic knot theme.  Hopefully I'll finish it today...

I'm thinking these household signs will be most useful as signs for kid's rooms.  This next one will demonstrate that.  :)

I wonder how many businesses I could market these Washroom signs to, though...  Something to think about.

For you, two dollars!

So I went in search of a certain kind of plaque...  I want to make long, narrow signs for putting in your home above doorways.  Things like 'Washroom'  'Kitchen'  'Amy's Room' etc.  What I found were pieces of pine at Michaels that ranged in size from 12"x5" to 8"x1".  The strange thing was that, no matter what size you got, they were all two dollars.  Say wha?

So I picked up the largest size and cut the sucker in half.  Voila!  Two signs!  I've now sanded the edges to round the off and will proceed to the decoration of them.

In other news - I've nearly completed the process of sealing the 'No Soliciting' sign with urethane.  The front has received its final coat and tomorrow I'll start on the back.  As far as I know I'll be delivering this one to the purchaser in person.  We'll both be attending the Canterbury Faire in Silverton Oregon next month, so why mail it?

Another project I have in the works is a picture given to me by a friend of his kids when they were little.  I'm hoping to do the picture in its entirety, background and all, for the full effect.  There's no telling when I'll have it done, but it's coming along!

Really, what I'd like is to find time to get a few more pirate related pieces done...  Of course one of my favorites already sold a long time ago...

Too bad I don't have a high res scan of this one. Arrr!

Give me a sign

Well, I call this one done!  (Minus a couple coats of polyurethane...)

The odd thing is that, even though it doesn't look like it, the holes drilled on either side are actually dead even.  I've measured over and over again.  But because of the wood grain and the image, they look uneven.  I have the solution!  Just look at it from the back and we're good!  Though I don't think that my signature and the date are going to be as pretty.

And now it's on to the next!

Round and Round

As much as I wish I could post a picture of the 'No Soliciting' sign I've made, I'm afraid it would do terrible damage to the polyurethane finish that's not yet dry.  And so, we wait.

I am now considering the best images to put onto pieces of trunk rounds - you know the kind...  Circles of wood with the bark still on the edges.  I have found a few of them at Goodwill and sanded off the *cough* crappy *cough* laminated pictures to reveal the bare wood underneath.  I believe they're all redwood and it burns beautifully!  I did a test by burning my signature onto the back of one.  So now comes the decision...  What to put on them?

I'm thinking landscape scenes...  I could try an old cottage or barn even...  As long as it doesn't include water.  I don't quite have it sorted out in my head of how to do water.  The closest I've come to putting any bodies of water into a wood burning was as part of the background for the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Yeah... That little brighter streak on the right-hand side...  That's a lake.  :)

Maybe with these rounds I'll do some oil painting on them as well...  I've only ever done it for two other wood burnings, and I really liked the result.

I thinned down the paint to make it more transparent.  I think it would look good in a landscape scene...  But then, what do I know?

Gearing Up

In light of my most recent good news, I'm thinking it's time to delve into some steampunk style wood burnings...

In two weeks I'll be performing belly dance on stage with steampunk band 'Abney Park' in Portland at the Wonder Ballroom.  Woohoo!!!

Now the question... how to accurately depict Victorian style industry and anachronistic technology revolving mainly around metal and gears... on wood.  As I learned with the trains, getting the wood to look like metal is not easy.  And, as I've mentioned before...  machinery is full of far too many little parts and pieces that take a hell of a long time to create in the burnings.

This just makes me wonder - if what I'm going for is awesomeness - is this satisfactory?

All Signs Point to Genius!

It seems that this new special order may be opening a few new doors for me... I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before, actually...

Signage.  Such a simple thing, really.  I could produce decorative, yet useful plaques for house numbers, 'Private Drive', 'No Soliciting', etc.  Genius!

The special order I got from this most recent event was for a 'No Soliciting' sign.  I for one agree that the generic signs from Home Depot and the like don't always look that great on the outside of people's homes, and I would opt for a more decorative sign that suits my style and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.  The difference in doing these, of course, will be the finish that goes on them.  To make them outdoor friendly they'll have to be coated in polyurethane.  It'll be an extra, not so nice-smelling, step, but I think this idea could have a real future!

Today I'm putting together ideas for what to do for this special order sign.  She's given me a few ideas of things she likes and now it's up to me to sort through them and put together a design.  This requires analyzing the person and their tastes and choosing not only images that would suit them, but a font as well.  Gotta say - I'm liking the challenge!

All's faire in love of vending

It's amazing...  I spend three days in the great outdoors, slaving away to set up my booth and campsite, then work in the hot sun for two days straight, come home absolutely exhausted - and all I can think about is how excited I am to do it all over again next month!

The Sherwood Faire was a success!  Though I didn't sell many wood burnings at the event, I got one confirmed special order and two more possibles.  It's all about the networking and getting your name out there.  But, as is true for most vendors and participants at renaissance faires, you do them because you love them!  Most vendors I've talked to come out even or at barely any profit, but all of us keep coming back year after year.

I must say, though, that one big highlight for me this weekend came from a friend who had a booth right across from me.  She's a fellow belly dancer and she hand-dyes the most beautiful silk veils.  She learned that I only own one silk veil and very insistently told me to go over to her booth and pick one out!  Since we don't get tips when we dance in Corvallis, she said that this way she can at least show her appreciation for my very frequent performances.  WooHoo!!  I love you!  So now, I have in my possession a very beautiful mottled dark purple silk veil!  If nothing else, that made the entire weekend worth it, sales or no.  :)

One of the wood burnings that did sell is shown below.  Goodbye little mouse - I hope you love your new home!

Put 'em together and what have you got?...

And voila!  22 hours later, we have a completed sea turtle!!

And, to make it particularly beautiful...  Mineral oil.

If you want to see this in person, you can come out to the Sherwood Fantasy Faire this weekend in Sherwood, Oregon!

*happy dance*

Coming down the home stretch!

I'm just over 1/3 done with the sea turtle's shell and I'm bound and determined to get it all done before the Sherwood Faire this weekend!  I'd love to be able to put it on display with a happy little 'SOLD' sign on it. :)  It's the first piece I've done that's cut into a custom shape, let alone a piece this big!  It will make a great show piece before it makes it to the hands of the buyer.

And seeing as how it's nearly noon and I haven't done any burning yet today, I'd better get my butt in gear!

Here's a little something to get you through till I'm done...

Making a list and checking it four times...

Hard at work on the remainder of the sea turtle.  But since it's just the shell left, I think I'll hold off on more photos until it's complete.  :)

Otherwise it's now time for the mad dash - pulling everything together to take out to Sherwood for the Fantasy Faire this weekend!  I just pray I can get everything we'll need into the two cars we'll have.  My list of what to bring, both for the booth and our campsite, have filled an entire notebook page.

In the booth, along with my wood burnings and oil paintings, there will be hand-made jewelry made by Alesha Jess, Rebecca Furman and Leta Porter.  And of course there will be tons of entertainment at the Faire including jousting knights, madrigal singers, and tribal belly dancers (if my information is correct).

At a Fantasy Faire you can bet you'll be seeing more than a few pirates as well!  I hope they find my artwork to their liking...

Full Circle

Weekends always fill up, don't they?  Still, I made a concerted effort to accomplish a decent amount on the sea turtle!  The outer rim of the shell is done,

and he even has a footsie!

In other news, I met a fellow cast member of a movie I'm in, who knows the owner of Pegasus Gallery in Corvallis.  He wants to help me get some pieces in there to show!  :)  Yay!

Just Around the Bend

Needing a bit of a break from flippers, I've moved on to the outer rim of the shell on my sea turtle.

You may have noticed that, although I'm showing my progress, you have yet to see the turtle in its entirety.  Well let me be frank...  You're not going to until it's done. :)  I'm going to stick to these teaser pictures and wait for the big reveal for when it's totally complete!

And by the way, later this month, on the 16th and 17th, I'll be running a booth at the Sherwood Fantasy Faire in Sherwood Oregon.  So if you're wanting to check out my artwork in person, that would be the place to go!  Come play faire with us!

Another Day, Another Flipper

With the gentle sounds of Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone in the background, I completed the turtle's other's front flipper.  My hope is that by the time I've finished with all of the Harry Potter films, I'll be finished, or nearly finished, with the whole turtle!  If only there were a spell that could speed up my work...

To follow up on a previous post - I have run through all of the Back to the Future movies as well - they got me through the other flipper. :)

Give him a hand

Continuing on today with the sea turtle!  He now has a flipper!

The photo shows a distinct change in color along the bottom, right portion, but it's just the flash of the camera that brings that about.

I've begun scanning my wood burnings for better picture clarity and to eliminate the glare of the flash on the darker portions of the image - however this method cannot be used in this case.  I'm afraid I don't have a scanner two feet wide. :)

This laminated pine is behaving a bit differently that the plaques I usually work with.  It's not causing problems necessarily, but it takes a bit more patience. Still, I'm making good time!

Burn, baby, burn!

I have begun the burning of the big, special order sea turtle!  The best way I've found to accomplish a good deal of work in one sitting is to put on a movie.  It makes you think about the movie instead of how long you've been sitting in one spot, doing one thing.  Today's selection was 'Back to the Future'.

I spent an hour and a half so far today on this piece and I got the head all done!

To put this into a bit of perspective - the head measures 3x3 inches.  This is why it takes a great deal of patience to do this kind of artwork!  A trait I am still learning.  :)

First Steps

I have begun my newest special order!  I found a beautiful piece of solid pine

and successfully cut out my shape.

The edges are beveled and I have my basic sketch laid out!

Tomorrow, I start burning!

How Time Flies

It's interesting how one image can look really complicated, but gets completed five times faster than something more basic looking.  I have learned that anything to do with machinery or large buildings takes FOREVER!  For example:

I did three difference trains for a show earlier this year.  None of them sold - and it was a model train show...

Nevertheless, I'm glad to still have them on display at other events, and you never know when you'll come across a train fanatic.

Now, shading is one thing - accurately depicting all of those stinking little moving parts is another.  Whoever came up with the design for a steam engine had far too many spare parts on their hands and seemed determined to use them all on one engine!  And I only show the left side of it!

Now, for something that looks complicated, but didn't take nearly as much time...

Not that feathers are necessarily easy to do, but I prefer them over machinery any day.

Currently I'm working on one of a castle, the Neuschwanstein Castle.  There are so many obnoxious little windows and towers...  it's proving to have the same proficiency for time-sucking as the trains!