Pyrograffiti

by Kathleen Menéndez

Pyrography News From Around the World

Newsletter No. 39, Page Two of Two

CONTENTS:

Page One
Hats Off to JoHannes Michelsen and Deb Fanelli—for Originality!

Page Two
Marshall Stokes: New Shows and New Directions
Cheryl Dow: Planning a Woodburning Celebration for August 2007

Marshall Stokes: New Shows and New Directions

Howdy by Marshall Stokes Pyrography on wood panel, "Bones" Series Digital image courtesy of the artist

Still On Fire!

When American artist Marshall Stokes (aka CHO, his nom d'artiste) was introduced to WOM readers in Pyrograffiti 33, he was already exhibiting a considerable amount of variety in his innovative works. He hasn't missed a step since then either. Not only that, he has taken the big, bold, brave step—of going professional and making his living from his art.

Marshall's new web site Pop Icon 1 at www.popicon1.com is full of surprises, including the cheery greeting (above) from one of the creations in his Bones series.

Works from Marshall's Bones series were featured in a show at Artifact Gallery in Portland this past February: "I really liked the bones." Marshall says, "The idea started as focusing on the basic physical structure of ourselves, beneath all of our exteriors. I found it interesting, the dynamic surfaces of these objects, turn one a little bit, and all of the shadows change. I am looking forward to continuing this series, and have a sort of finale planned for an April show in Portland at Vino Paradiso, www.vinoparadiso.com, which will involve a couple of full size, multi-panel skeletons."

Longmen Falls by Marshall Stokes Pyrography on wood panel, "Tattoo" Series Digital image courtesy of the artist

Traditional Tattoo Design, Japanese Inpiration

Marshall talks about a month long show he just had in August at the Artifact Gallery in Portland, Oregon: "For that show, I wanted to focus on traditional tattoo design as inspired by Edo period Japan woodblock printing, or "ukiyo-e" (pictures of the floating world). I am a collector of tattoos myself, and thought that pyrography would lend itself to those images nicely. I picked some of my favorite images, koi, dragon, chrysanthemums, lotus, cherry blossoms, and worked with those, learning a little bit about their symbolism along the way. It also spawned an interest in possibly trying my hand at tattooing, which is maybe a story for another day."

Dylan's Guitar, partial view, close-up by Marshall Stokes Stylized pyrographic portraits on a wooden guitar, "Portraiture" Series Digital image courtesy of the artist

First Foray into Portraiture

And finally, regarding his stylized interpretive portraits of the Beatles shown above, Marshall says, "Dylan's Guitar is my first foray into portraiture... This is another area that I will be focusing on for the next couple of shows, at the Postergarden (postergarden.com) in October and again at Artifact in December. I see this as the next important step in my progression, and am looking forward to refining it and adding my touches to it."

Cheryl Dow: Planning a Woodburning Celebration
for August 2007

Entrance to the Saw Mill Theater Cook Forest Sawmill Center for the Arts, Cooksburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Image courtesy of www.sawmill.org

"First of Its Kind Celebration"

American pyrographic art teacher Cheryl Dow has begun announcing her major pyro event planned for August 3, 4, and 5 in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Word is spreading and momentum is growing for a get-together, exhibit, competition, seminars, demonstrations, and other events for pyrographic artists from across the land and around the world.

Cheryl has booked the Cook Forest Sawmill Center for the Arts as the venue for what she recently and rightly termed a "first of its kind celebration." In a recent interview, she told me how important she felt it was that pyro artists have a chance to not only see and buy tools at such an event, but be able to try them out. For this reason, she has arranged that any and all vendors of pyrotools offer that opportunity at this event.

Cheryl has even arranged for some cash prizes to be offered for winners of the competition, which will be open to novices, intermediate, and advanced participants, further divided between natural (unpainted) works and painted ones, and then broken down into categories of human, animal, birds, scenes, and more, all of which are detailed on the application form for the competition, which can be found at Cheryl's web site www.cherylddow.com.

Mark your calendar and make your plans to arrive in Cooksburg, Pennsylvania on August 2, 2007, for a pyrography get-away weekend or a family vacation. See Cheryl's web site for lots more details, including classes she is offering there in the days before the event begins. And link from her web site to Cook Forest attractions, accommodations, and events. Check here in Pyrograffiti, too, for updates as they become available and the date draws nearer.

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The Author Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez learned her pyrography techniques in Guatemala in 1975-1977 under Carmela Flores. 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 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.