CONTENTS
Page One:
- Dino Muradian: A Project Unfolding
Page Two:
- Dino Muradian: Varied Themes
- Book Review: Step-by-Step Pyrography Projects
for the Solid
Point Machine by Norma Gregory
- Sue Walter's Newsletter--Smokin'!
Page Three:
- From Spain: FFerdezO
- Tom Schulz: Update From Alaska
- Remembering September 11th
|
San Pedro from Alameda |
FFerdezO is the pseudonym for Francisco Fernández Osuna
of Spain. FFerdezO lives in Carmona, a small city west of Seville in
the southern province of Andalucia. He has exhibited his works not only
in Carmona but in the larger cities of Seville and Badajoz as well.
A self taught artist, FFerdezO started doing pyrography on wood panels
in 1973. His first project was an ambitious Last Supper.
FFerdezO does not make his living from his pyrographic art. For a long
period of time, the demands of his profession as a technical architect
superceded his desire to continue his pyrography. Since his gradual
return to his art work in recent years, FFerdezO's themes of choice have
come to be landscapes, cityscapes, and abstracts. His inclination
towards architecture is manifest in the striking abstract that follows.
|
Abstract No. 1 |
Probably for lack of technical instruction in this medium, FFerdezO
decided early on that there were some drawbacks for him in working on
wood (particularly issues with finishing and fading), and by 1976 he
opted for working on paper instead. He experimented blending colored
pencils when he worked on the wood panels, whereas on paper he uses
watercolor, albeit sparingly. In the two cityscapes here, notice that
only the skies have any color other than pyrographic tonalities.
FFerdezO's approach to his pyrography is a technique analogous to
another one he uses--an India ink technique he refers to as the
"aguada." That technique consists of diluting India ink with water and
applying it to a drawing through a simple process of first adding a lot
of water to the ink to achieve the lightest tones, then progressively
adding ink and removing water each time defining areas with slightly
darker tones until finally getting to the areas with the maximum dark
tones. The last step uses only undiluted India ink to create interesting
chiaoroscuro effects defining in the shiny black ink the elements of the
painting with delicate precision.
|
Narrow Street in San Felipe |
Until now, FFerdezO has been using a solid point pyrography tool and
only one point--the universal point. At this time, he is considering
the purchase of a tool with temperature control and wire tips in the
hope of expanding his technique.
His technique in pyrography parallels the "aguada" technique
described above; that is, he burns in distinct intensities going from
lighter tonalities to darker. As a careful look at the cityscapes will
reveal, FFerdezO applies the burning by means of irregular spots of
shading (but not pointillism per se) to suggest shapes without actually
drawing outlines to define the elements.
FferdezO remembers that, although he has always drawn in pencil and ink,
his interest in pyrography was sparked when he observed his drawing
professor trying out a pyro tool he had been sent along with other
equipment and drawing materials. From that point on, the medium
interested FferdezO, although it was some time after that before he had
an opportunity to try it himself.
I will close with FFerdezO's own modest words about himself but only
after first saying how highly his works shown here and in his FFerdezO
Salon in the E-Museum speak of his artistry for him:
"I do not consider myself an artist so much as a lover of
drawing in all of its expressions."
|
Tom Schulz and His Daughter Nikki |
This story begins in the March-April 2002 issue of WOM with the
Pyrograffiti article segments on the University of Alaska's
Historical Pyrography Exhibit and Tom
Schulz: In the Spirit of Alaska Today. The first segment
gives some history and details about an antique pyrography exhibit in
Fairbanks with hundred-year-old moosehides and other burned artefacts
from the days of the Gold Rush. The second segment is about Tom Schulz
and his life in Alaska working as a pyrographic artist, and, in
particular, his connection to the Centennial Gold Rush celebration that
took place in Fairbanks this year.
The moosehide above--his first ever--Tom prepared for the centennial
celebration in honor of the museum exhibit of moosehides. He later
entered it into the Alaska State Fair, where it won the Grand Champion
Award in Creative Arts. The icing on the cake was that Tom entered two
pieces by his 8-year-old daughter Nikki. The first piece was her first
ever oil painting, which won a blue ribbon; the second entry was a pair
of handmade mukluks (boots) made of moose and caribou that won Nikki the
Junior Grand Champion Award in Native Arts.
As Grand Champion, Tom spent a week demonstrating his pyrography in the
artists spotlight booth at the fair. Being together with his little
Nikki at the Awards Ceremony was the highlight of it all.
|
Portrait of Felix Pedro, detail |
Felix
Pedro was the prospector who discovered gold in 1902 thereby
sparking the Alaska Gold Rush near what was to become the city of
Fairbanks. He was an Italian immigrant from the city of Fanano where
he was born in 1858 as Felice Pedroni, the son of a coal miner. He
later americanized his name.
Two people played a role in how Felix Pedro's life and luck played out
in Alaska. One was E.
T. Barnette who exploited the prospector's find by sending out the
news of the discovery of gold to bring in business for himself. The
other was Mary Doran, an Englishwoman Felix Pedro married and who from
some accounts may have been a "gold digger" of the other kind.
It seems that history is not clear regarding the end of Felix Pedro's
life at the age of 52. There is mystery surrounding the cause of his
death and also whether he died in poverty or not.
In the Italian account linked here Felice Pedroni's
partner Vincenzo Gambiani doubted the story of his death by natural
causes and suspected Mary Doran of foul play. At any rate, she died a
wealthy woman and took any secrets to her grave.
Felix Pedro is remembered as a founding father of the city of Fairbanks,
where he was president of that mining district. Each year his monument
on the Steese Highway outside of Fairbanks is rededicated, and this year
2002, an Italian contingent made the trip from Fanano, Italy to pay
tribute to his memory for the Gold Rush Centennial celebration.
|
Presentation of the Felix Pedro
Moosehide |
While working on his first award winning moosehide, Tom Schulz had the
inspiration to do a similar one featuring a portrait of Felix Pedro. He
set about doing his moosehide, which he planned to donate to the city of
Fairbanks as a commemorative art work to give as a present to the city
of Fanano.
He also decided to do a limited edition of one hundred pyrographic
portraits in Birch (see detail of the portrait above) of the man who
started the Alaska Gold Rush and he set each portrait in a prospector's
goldpan (see following image below). Number one was to be given to the
Mayor of Fanano and number 100 to the Mayor of Fairbanks to commemorate
the historical occasion.
|
Tom Schulz and Giuseppe Lenti |
Not only did Tom have the pleasure of meeting the mayors of both cities
and the descendants of Felix Pedro, Mayor Alessandro Corsini of Fanano,
who had presented the city of Fairbanks with a statue to commemorate the
centennial, was so pleased with Tom's pyrographic representation of the
Italian who found gold in Alaska a hundred years ago, that he personally
extended an invitation to Tom to come to Fanano in a year's time to
participate in the International
Sculptors Symposium. Fanano has become a remarkable sort of museum
unto itself, since the symposium is an annual event bringing artists
from many countries to reside and work there for a couple of months and
then leave there in Fanano the fruits of their labors.
Tom will have the honor of demonstrating his moosehide pyrography there
for the symposium and he will be able to see personally his own
moosehide of Felix Pedro (Felice Pedroni) hanging in the 8th century
building (originally a monastery) that is Fanano's Town Hall.
Look for new images in the Tom Schulz
salon of the E-Museum of Pyrographic Art with additional links to
newspaper articles about Tom.
To learn more details of Tom's work and techniques, see Sue Walter's
latest newsletter (#3) . Click on
www.suewalters.com
linked here, to sign up.
Congratulations to Tom Schulz and Nikki. Next year no doubt we'll have a new chapter to add to the story that just keeps getting better.
|
Remembering September 11th |
Let there be peace on Earth...
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 sixth year of articles on pyrography for the Woodcarver Online Magazine (WOM), started January 1997, and the fifth 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 by IAPA Co-founder Mixo Sydenham of Australia for IAPA members. |
2002, Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez, all rights reserved.
