CONTENTS
Page One:
Krasimir Hristov
and His PYRONAISSANCE of
Old Masters Works
Angelce Miskov--Pyroengravings of Albrecht Dürer
Works
Page Two:
Aleksis Ponze Gallegos--Autochthonous Themes of
Peru
Grigoriy Tischenko Overcomes Great Challenges
Page Three:
Kids Corner--8-year-old Nina Govaerts Follows in Her
Father's Footsteps
Anikó Hazafi--Works in Fire and Light
Michael Janson--In the Palace of Culture
Sonny Cain--A Tattoo Artist Tries Pyrography
|
Wasbeer
(Raccoon) |
Eight-year-old Belgian artist Nina Govaerts from the city of
Malines recently
decided to try her hand at pyrography under the
guidance of her father Ivan Govaerts.
Ivan is already well known on the IAPA internet
message board as well as to WOM readers since he was
introduced in the May-June 2003 Pyrograffiti.
This time, however, it is Nina who is in the
spotlight. Shown above is her first ever pyrography.
The care and perseverance that she has put into her
work and the natural talent that she brings to it are
all wonderful.
|
The Pyrotool Nina
Govaerts Uses |
Shown above is Ivan's tool, which he is now sharing
with Nina. Because Nina is so young and also a
beginner, Ivan stays right with her to supervise when
she works. For this reason, one pyrotool is
sufficient for both of them.
In addition, Ivan has cleverly adapted his tool to
make it safer and more comfortable for his little girl
by adding a protective ring of very thick leather to
the pen handle to prevent accidental burns and keep
Nina's fingers from getting too hot.
Ivan is teaching Nina to draw and plan her designs in
preparation for her pyrographs. He is trying to teach
her the shapes of things by tracing different
patterns, as well as teaching her lines and dots with
her pyrotool. She works on tracing paper and when her
design is ready, she copies it onto her plaque and
starts to burn.
The supervisory aspect is important when considering
woodburning with children. Recently Ivan was accepted
into the academy for firefighters--a proud moment for
him and his family. However, with his intense
training during this period, he has had to forego
other activities for a while. So, while Ivan is
rarely using his pyrotool of late, Nina's
opportunities to work in pyrography likewise have been
fewer without her Dad there to guide and supervise
her.
|
Zwaannin (Swan) |
You won't want to miss a really pretty picture of Nina
at work on Nina's
Page--the web page that her proud father has
already prepared for her.
Ivan says, "Nina wanted to try pyrographic art
after she saw me doing this work. In the beginning
she was a little disappointed because she could not
get the quality of my work. She is very demanding on
herself by nature. Now she knows that she has to
practice a lot."
Nina will soon be celebrating her ninth birthday.
|
Tired Man |
Hungarian pyrographic artist Anikó Hazafi was born in
1975 in Kiskunhalas; however, now she lives in
Kiskörö, which is the hometown, she says, of
the famous Hungarian poet Sändor Petofi. She
displays her pyrographic art works on the walls of the
pub that she and her husband own and run.
According to Anikó (whose name, by the way, is
the Hungarian version of Ann), she was only a child
the first time she saw a painting done in pyrography.
Although she didn't really pay any attention to the
fact that it was pyrography per se, she did feel that
the painting really touched her and it certainly left
a lasting impression. And, although the technique did
not seem important at the time, she did realize the
work was a curiosity.
|
Castle and Keep in
Transylvania c. 1800 |
|
Tools. Anikó describes her pyrotool
only as a poor one. She says she uses only two tips
for her work. She likes to burn deeply and darkly in
varying tones, and to create the strong highlights in
her dark work, she also uses a little polishing tool.
|
Anikó's pyrotool |
|
Heathcock |
Anikó says that pyrography in Hungary is little
known--not, as she imagines, it is beyond the borders
of her country. She herself is self taught and just
started working in this art form in 2005 with a little
landscape on a wood panel.
Anikó says she just loves to make special
things and that includes doing pyrography. What I
found remarkable about her art is that she has such a
distinctive personal style and effective technique
even though she began doing pyrography less than a
year ago.
Her goal is to show the charm of fire on wood to as
many people as possible. She would like to see
pyrographic art gain in popularity in her own country
of Hungary. She hopes to show others what a wonderful
thing fire painting is--a wonderful play of fire on
wood.
Thanks to Anikó, their customers at the pub
already appreciate it.
Anikó is showing her work at the following
site: www.painter.hu/hazafianiko.
Look for the Anikó
Hazafi E-Museum Salon at this link.
|
The 8-Steps Way |
Russian abstract artist Michael Janson
from St. Petersburg wrote to give us an update on
another successful year in his always interesting
life.
Besides an angelic granddaughter named Anastasia who
has taken over his life and stolen his heart this past
year, since last June he has been working in the
position of Chief Artist in one of St. Petersburg's
three or four "Palaces of Culture."
|
The Talisman for World
Wanderers |
Michael has once more been published in St.
Petersburg's prestigious ArtIndex--this year with
two pages dedicated to his work! The works published
are the two images shown here entitled
"The Talisman for World Wanderers" and
"The 8-Steps Way."
The official presentation of the new volume--ArtIndex
2005--took place on January 27, 2006.
|
Illustrator
Michael's latest news is that he is also working as a
book illustrator for a new book called "The Echo
of Meetings." The story behind
this new opportunity began with the idea of ArtIndex
illustrating 100 short poems written by a well known
journalist from the Russian magazine Rodina whose name is
Tamara
Piterskaya. Tamara's poems are devoted to
highlighting 100 of Russia's most outstanding
journalists, singers, artists, scientists, actors,
choreographers, etc. There is even a poem dedicated
to Russia's President Putin!
|
Cover of the new book |
Fate stepped in. The good news is that Tamara decided
that using only one artist to do all the illustrations
would be more 'cost effective' and offered Michael the
job! The bad news (for us pyrography enthusiasts
anyway) is that Michael realized doing 100
illustrations in pyrography was unrealistic, so he
decided to draw with the help of a computer.
He had the idea (brilliant idea, of course) to use the
initials of each VIP and do a design with them that
symbolized each person's respective claim to fame.
Below is one example--what he ultimately used to
cleverly illustrate the poem for Zhores Alferov.
|
Zhores Alferov |
|
Sonny Cain |
Born in 1964, American artist Sonny Cain--aka Grafik
Dragon--from Indiana has been working in artistic
things since he was a little boy of about six or
seven. He remembers making lots of things out of all
kinds of different materials. After finishing high
school at age 16, Sonny started working in his
father's business of two-way radios. By 18, he got
his first tattoo and took a big interest in learning
that art form in his spare time. In 1998, he landed
an apprenticeship in the shop of a well known tattoo
artist. He said that drawing had always been hard for
him until he was at that shop.
Sonny has been working in pyrography since w-a-a-a-a-y
back in-----January! Yes, Sonny just started a few
weeks ago. Here, in his words is how that came about:
"I got interested in pyrography after the death
of a great tattoo friend when we all wanted to make
his family something to remind them that he was loved
the world round. So I went and picked up a Detail
Master burning pen set at Woodcraft and started going
at it."
|
Commemorative Plaque for
Thomas Norbom |
Sonny just learned about pyrography in 2005 at a
turkey shoot in southern Indiana. But that's not all
he does:
"I am an all around artist dabbling in all
mediums. My favorites are, but not limited to:
tattooing, woodworking and fine furniture building,
silversmithing, bladesmithing, leather work, oil
paints, and have been known to sew a mean prom dress.
I also am a great cook."
In the few weeks since he began, Sonny has been
burning away at an amazing pace. He already has a
portfolio worth of works, has joined IAPA to dialogue
with more pyro artists, and has put together his own
web site!
|
Snake with
Flames |
Sonny is an authentic "hands on" man with
boundless energy. When I asked the question you know
I'd have to ask when he wrote that, among other
things, he could sew a "mean prom dress," he
explained that he was "one of those guys that
took home economics in school--lots of girls in
there," he laughed. He also added that he
"...learned to sew pretty good. I have had part
time jobs as an alterations tailor. There are many
other things that I can do that I did not mention
because I do not do them much anymore."
He is able to do so much, in part, he says, because he
only sleeps a couple of hours a night. He is at home
now, he explains, disabled by his Bipolar disorder.
He mainly spends his days taking care of his two
teenaged daughters and doing his artwork. His Bipolar
condition is a daily struggle for Sonny. He says that
he has many hours when he has to entertain his mind in
order to avoid manic episodes.
|
Viking |
Sonny does his designs by tracing from his tattoo
design source the hard lines and then doing freehand
the details. He thinks that tattooing has taught him
to work quickly, and that pyrography has many
similarities with the tattooing. The "Pretty
Woman" piece below he did in less than an hour.
Sonny says that in 2000 he started his own tattoo
shop, but that in 2004 he was robbed and was forced to
shut it down. He still travels every summer, though,
to South Dakota to tattoo at the motorcycle rally
there.
The day he wrote to me answering my questions for this
article, he was also cooking for the Shriners. Never
a dull moment for Sonny Cain.
|
Pretty
Woman |
"Tattoo Flash," Sonny explained, "is
the artwork that is displayed on the walls and in
books at tattoo shops."
Go here to see Sonny's new website: www.artofcain.com.
Look for some new works by Sonny soon in his Sonny
Cain Salon in the E-Museum.
New Website for Carole "Burnie"
Peters--Great birthday present from her husband!
Check it out at www.scorchart.com.
Congratulations to Sue Walters on Her "Best in
Open" Category Win at the Hamilton Show in
Ontario, Canada!
Click
here to go back to page one
Click
here to go back to page two
 |
The AuthorKathleen M. Garvey Menéndez learned her pyrography techniques in Guatemala in 1975-1977. Her sister, Artist Sharon H. Garvey, later joined her there to collaborate on a pyrography project designed to promote this art form in the United States by means of a didactic book and a pyrography tool made by Navarro of Mexico.Thanks to the internet, this is the beginning of the tenth year of articles on pyrography for the Woodcarver Online Magazine (WOM), started January 1997, and the ninth year of the E-Museum of Pyrographic Art, which opened its virtual doors January 1998. In March of that year, the International Association of Pyrographic Artists (IAPA) was formed and members began meeting on line. Linked from the E-Museum's Café Flambé, which hosts the IAPA meetings, is the Yahoo Groups uniting_pyrographers mailing list, member list, and chat forum set up for IAPA members by IAPA Cofounder Ken "Mixo" Sydenham of Warragul, Victoria, Australia. |
2006, Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez, all rights reserved.
