Good morning, good reader. I’m Ian Wilson, here to talk about the right tools for the right job. In this case, pyrography. Now, some of you are probably thinking “what is pyrography?” It comes from a Greek word that means “drawing (or writing) with fire” and that’s essentially what it is. Basically, what I do as a pyrographer is take a piece of hot metal and draw on wood (or leather) with it. It sounds dangerous, but it’s actually a pretty safe artform.
So the question is, what does one need to become a pyrographer? Well, the obvious thing you need is some amount of artistic talent. If you’re good at drawing or calligraphy, then I would say give pyrography a try. The next you’ll need is some wood. I’ll get into what types of wood are best another time. Ideally, you want an unfinished piece of wood that is relatively smooth, with few imperfections. And of course, you need a pyrography tool. There are a great variety of pyrography tools, but they generally have a short wire that plugs into a normal wall socket, and have interchangeable tips, which you can screw into the end. Each tip has a different purpose and will make a different type of mark. I would strongly suggest that you buy a pyrography tool in person at a craft store rather than online. The best tools are usually temperature controlled; my first pyrography tool didn’t come with temperature controls, but I made do, and it worked out OK, but my work would’ve looked better if I had temperature control. For softer, more delicate woods, use a lower temperature. Usually, the tool will come with some instructions on how hot to make it, but you really just need to experiment with it to find what best works for you. Other things you’ll need are leather grafting gloves. Now, you won’t need them to be very thick, like welding gloves; you’ll just need a little extra layer of protection. The handle of the tool is always shielded so you’re not likely to get yourself burned, but just in case, it’s best to wear the gloves. If you’re working indoors, I would recommend some kind of ventilation, like a window fan, to blow the smoke away. Otherwise, the smoke will get in your eyes, and you won’t be able to see what you’re doing. If you’re not working near a fan or a window, I would recommend wearing safety goggles. They’ll keep the smoke out of your eyes so you can keep working. And never leave your pyrography tool unattended while the power is turned on! Make sure it has had time to cool before leaving your workspace. Pyrography is a relatively simple, fun art, and I would recommend anyone with moderate to skilled drawing talent try their hand at it.
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We're so glad you could join us here on the blog site for our big debut!! I'm Lyn and I'm proprietress. For 3 years this blog was my sole domain. I wrote most of the blogs, shared my life's work and my enthusiasm. You'll still find my archives here and you will also find links to Out of the Parc's Portfolio Page. However, now that my adult kids and I have formed an artists group, the readers that come to this blog will get a triple dose of thoughts on charity work, introductions to our fav. artists, thoughts on our various crafts and I'm sure plenty of smiles! Welcome to our home and life's passion! (it's bound to get a little crazy... strap in)
This past weekend we had our second craft show as an artist group. The Snow Angel Craft Fair is put on my Holy Family Catholic School in Malone, NY. I thought we would each share our thoughts on this particular fair with an eye towards December's craft fair and the Malone Comic Con. First up T.k. Wilson of Laterose Doll Clothes and Doll Repair Abby: At Holy Family School’s Snow Angel craft fair, I never know what’s going to sell. It all depends on the mood of the people coming in that day. For instance, I’ve offered Barbie clothes at every craft fair I’ve ever done. I’ve sold maybe one or two in that time. This year, the Barbie clothes were my biggest sellers! I unloaded about four total outfits and one refurbished Barbie doll. Another big seller at this time were my repaired My Little Ponies. I had a small collection of McDonald’s My Little Ponies… They all sold! I’ll have to buy more before my next event. Now, finding them, there’s the rub! That was pretty surprising. What also surprised me were the people looking for more unique items. At my last Comic Con, I met a gal looking for items related to Avengers superheroines and this time I ran into a lady looking for Items related to Dreamwork’s Trolls. I said to myself: “Trolls?! Well, that’s new.” You can’t lay your hands very easily on either one, so I’ll be seeing about offering my customers these very unique, specialty items in the future. I hope to have as good, or better success at my next event, the Winter Wonderland craft show at Davis Elementary on December 8th 2018! Next Ian Thomas Wilson, who shares his latest crafts through Tabitha's Mountain Rhapsody Family Artists:I had been preparing for the Snow Angel Craft Fair for a while. Most of my time was spent wood-burning amusing signage. Hunting and fishing are a big deal in this area, so I made some hunting cabin signs out of scrap lumber. I also made one that was halloween themed, in preparation for Comic Con, but that didn’t sell at Comic Con, but I thought I’d give it another shot. It paid off. The halloween sign was the first thing I sold. Surprisingly, none of the other signs sold. I also had made wood buttons, which I expected would sell, and they did. But one of my favorite crafts to make are ornately carved walking sticks. I had only sold two of them up to this point, but I continued making more, if only for the love of doing it. One of them finally sold at Snow Angel. I was elated. I’m not going to make too many more, as those tend to require a particular audience, but at least I know there are people still interested. I, Lyn Bennett Wilson, share my work through both Tabitha's Mountain Rhapsody Family Artists and Out of the Parc Designs (please remember to use the "c" at the end of Parc, not a "k" that's someone else). I was behind the scenes for most of the craft fair. Due to my health I cannot always attend the fairs in person. Those days of prep for a sale are exciting and a skosh unnerving. As T.k. and Ian wrote previously, we never know what will sell. I learned that I shouldn't take myself so SERIOUSLY. LOL Craft fairs are absolutely big business in this area and our main route to our customers. We appreciate every penny they spend. While I'm still learning to "go with the flow" I realize that as I am true to myself and my art, customers will find me. This brings me great happiness. ❤️ ❤️ Exciting things have been happening around Out of the Parc Designs HQ (don’t forget to use the letter “c” on the end of the word Parc. If you want bespoke we’ve got you covered.) Allow me to tell you about it!
First: For the past year myself, my son of Great Scot! productions and my daughter of Laterose Doll Clothes and Doll Repair Abbey have been collaborating on various projects for local craft fairs and comic cons, as I’m sure you have noticed from my various posts both on the page and my blog. Though we each retain our own businesses, together, as a family, we opened a new page to showcase our various talents. It’s entitled Tabitha's Mountain Rhapsody Family Artists. This page will become our “V. I. P” page where our followers can get a “sneak peek” at the work we’ve done before it goes up for sale to the public. Giving our loyal customer base first crack at buying our wares through our facebook page. (Paypal is our go-to form of payment BTW) Buying through our V.I.P page will entitle our customers to a discount, especially on purchase of multiple items. Browse the page, read the fun posts, buy at your leisure from our "faire" group! Second: The blog has been my, Lyn Bennett Wilson’s, baby for 3 years. It’s been a real joy to write! Both Great Scot! Productions and Laterose Doll Clothes and Doll Repair Abbey have contributed to the blog on various occasions. As a result of the NEW and improved Tabitha's Mountain Rhapsody Family Artists the blog will now become the Tabitha’s Mountain Rhapsody Family Artists Byway in which all 3 writers will have the opportunity to share their work and charity ideas! Remember that all 3 of the writers have very different skill sets as we join forces our readers will enjoy different viewpoints on art and crafting. Our customer base will not be losing their favorite blog or business page. On the contrary, we will be joining forces to give you new perspectives and purchase options! We hope you have as much fun reading as we do creating! Thank you for your patronage! |
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Author**Opinions expressed on blogs about which I write are the opinion of the blog authors and DO NOT necessarily reflect my own opinion. |