CONTENTS
Page One:
Kathleen Marie Wilson: Drawing from Nature
Page Two:
Peter Drewett: His Art and Story, part one
Page Three:
Peter Drewett: His Art and Story, part two
Ilanna Mandel: Peace Offerings
|
Peter Drewett Posing with Pole and Drum |
Tools. As we have seen, for his first attempt at burned art on a
piece of mulga wood he had found, Peter worked with wire from fireworks
sparklers. He later tried out a solid tip (soldering iron type) burning
tool but decided he liked branding with a hot wire and nail heads better
because, as he said, that method suited the hard woods he was working on
and the graphics that were evolving in his work. To pyroengrave the
drum and most other pieces of this type, he heated the wire and nails on
his propane gas stove.
After some experimentation, Peter says he finally borrowed Stephen
Poole's book on pyrography from the library and knew then he had to have
a hot-wire, transformer-type tool with variable temperature control, so
he got himself an Iron Core [Australian] pyrotool. Of that decision, he
says, "From there, I haven't looked back. The speed and accuracy
it enabled increased my productivity, options, and creativity, although
it's not as dramatic, heavy, thick, deep, or 'in ya face' as the
propane-heated wire and nail work (I still use that method for very
heavy outline or graphic effect). But I haven't picked up the soldering
iron unit for nearly two years."
|
Didgeridoo, view showing detail of the
pyroengraving |
Other 'tools' that come into play are assists from nature, like
lightning and the termites, which Peter terms his 'Michelangelos and
Leonardos,' that shaped and hollowed the pieces that became the
didgeridoo and the drum called the Animistic Caller; another was the
basic shape of the piece he calls Free Form that was
produced from a natural defect in a piece of Eucalyptus discovered while
he was splitting firewood. Free Form can be viewed in the
Peter
Drewett E-Museum Salon linked here.
Safety Issues. Peter deliberately avoids using plywood or any
other material that uses adhesives that may have toxins, which could
release on burning and are considered quite carcinogenic. In addition,
he is most interested in researching any toxicity caused by smoke from
different wood species or other organic materials used for pyrography.
He notes that smoke from gourds is an extreme irritant to his eyes and
lungs, so he uses an exhaust fan when working.
|
Little Girl |
Another important activity that Peter has developed along with his art work is working on community projects with teenagers. In the first image at the top of this page is a pole that is part of one such project he is working on at present. Because this project is a large one and a work still in progress, and because teaching adults, teenagers, and even some younger children has become such a significant part of his recent activities, there will be a Part Three segment of his Art and Story dedicated to covering these aspects here in a future issue of the WOM.
|
Animistic Caller |
Shown in three of the four images above is an exotic percussive
instrument Peter created, which he refers to as the Animistic
Caller. It is shown in the second image with the cute little
girl to offer a slightly different view of it, give an idea of its
relative size, and show more of the detail of the pyroengraving. The
third image offers still another view, demonstrates how it is held to be
played, and shows the club-like drum stick.
This remarkable instrument "can be played inside or out,"
Peter explains. "It has a huge range of tones and is very loud.
It can be played with a club-like drum stick or with a padded stick or
with hands and gives quite loud multiple tones, depending both on where
it is hit and with what. It is quite robust. In addition, the
snake-like arm can itself be played with a thick bamboo skewer for a
Latin American music, scraper-like [guiro] effect."
Peter Drewett does not claim to be the only artist who worked on the
Animistic Caller--he gives Mother Nature some credit, too. First, the
branch section of wood he used to make it came from a gum eucalyptus
tree, which was felled by lightning. Over time it was hollowed by
termites, which are known in Australia as white ants. Peter thinks of
them as master carvers--his "Michelangelos and
Leonardos"--setting the stage for the work that he was to do later
to create this functional work of sculptural pyrographic art.
The pyroengraved decoration Peter achieved by heating coathanger wire to
burn in the lines, and nail heads to brand the dots. To heat the wire
and nails, he used the propane gas flame of his cooking stove.
"I don't know how long it took for me to do the Animistic
Caller." Peter reminisces, "It kinda just happened. I heated
wire while cooking on my propane gas stove and started working on it,
put it down for a few weeks, then got a brainstorm idea for it and
worked on it again for a while, put it down, and repeated the process
'til one day it was finished. . ."
Peter said that it was this piece that got noticed on display in South
Grafton at The Emporium, a
wonderful old historic building there that boasts a coffee shop and is a
general meeting place and venue for many talented local artists of all
variety and media, as well as for dealers of old wares. One important
person who noticed the Animistic Caller there at the Emporium was Joan
Kerr.
|
Two Eels |
Poinciana seed pods come from a tree that is grown locally by the shire
council as an ornamental flowering street tree. Peter pyroengraves them
either with or without the darker outer coating, depending on the effect
he is looking for.
Peter pyroengraved the eels above on poinciana seed pods after removing
the dark outer coating. They are two of some sixty pods that were
commissioned for a gallery that wanted them done with either an eel or
fish look for a project organized in collaboration with a local college.
The goal was for interactive music art sessions with participating music
teachers and children, who would use the eel and fish seed pods as
shakers or rattles. Since no two are exactly alike, the large number
of seed pod rattles could produce a range of varied tones.
|
Siamese Fish |
|
Siamese Fish, detail |
Using colored ink to enhance the pyroengraving, Peter made the colorful
Siamese Fighting Fish above from seed pods as well. He finished the
seed pods with clear polyurethane. In the detailed image can be
appreciated the care and skill that Peter put into this project, and his
talent for pattern and decoration.
Peter enjoys making the seed pods into percussion instruments, and says,
"I love my work to have a function as well as artistic appeal,
as it makes art more accessible to all."
Peter's musical inclinations resurfaced yet again when he had an opportunity to try pyroengraving on gourds: His first attempts were inspired from maracas, typical percussion instruments of Latin America. Images of one of Peter's maracas can be viewed in the Peter Drewett E-Museum Salon linked here.
|
Unfoundlands, Detail |
Joan Kerr is an art historian from Sydney University. She had admired
pokerwork while in Europe and came upon Peter Drewett's Animistic
Caller there in South Grafton at the Emporium's art exhibition.
She found Peter's work, especially that drum, so extremely yet
wonderfully different from what she had encountered before, that she in
turn put Peter in touch with Peter Fay, an art collector and dealer in
Sydney.
Peter says that he presented a complete range of his work, and Peter Fay
selected those pieces of greatest interest, which he purchased on the
spot all the while offering 'endless encouragement', much to his
delight. And to his surprise, in addition, he commissioned him to do a
piece using gourds (Peter had only done four gourds up to that point).
Besides asking him to use gourds for the commissioned piece, Peter Fay
left him with only a vague idea of what he was to portray. Ultimately,
he left him with only one key word: SUBTLE.
|
Unfoundlands |
"The key word was subtle--not quite what I'm known
for," laughs Peter.
"I went home," he continues, "and, never having had such
an important commission, procrastinated over how to achieve what this
man would be happy with."
Gourds themselves have so many subtle colors, tones, and shapes, he
thought, and patterns, too, depending on the conditions in which they've
dried. Peter observed the patterns on his teardrop-shaped gourds. They
were water spots produced no doubt by fungi or mould in the drying
process and he found
them an inspiration in themselves.
|
Unfoundlands |
Pressure increased when a telephone call came from Peter Fay telling
Peter he had already included the sight-unseen, yet-to-be-completed
commissioned art work in an important special exhibition called
"Home Sweet Home" at the National Gallery of Australia in
Canberra, the nation's capital.
With two months to complete the work, Peter began by finding inspiration
in the minute detail of the gourds' patterns and deciding he did not
want to change that but only enhance its natural beauty. His stock of
gourds was all of the same teardrop-shaped type, so he chose six of them
and set to work using a headset with magnifying lenses and his Iron Core
tool. With very fine points he burned around the natural pattern
on the gourds, adjusting the heat settings on his pyrotool to match his
outline to the light or dark of the existing water spot patterns to
produce
what look like ancient sepia maps. After many sleepless nights, he
completed Unfoundlands by the deadline.
The gourds were suspended from the ceiling and in a corner with a
monofilament fishing line of a similar color. Peter likes that he can
change the composition of the gourds simply by varying the lengths of
the fishing line, and, because they are mounted to tiny fishing swivels,
that a small breeze will slowly rotate them thereby constantly revealing
new aspects. Lighting is one more element that can be added to create
different effects.
Evidently Peter Fay's blind trust in Peter's ability was well founded.
Here is what Russell Smith, art reviewer for Muse, a
Canberra arts magazine, had to say in the October 2003 issue about
Peter's pyro work of gourds at the "Home Sweet Home" exhibit:
"One of my favourite works was
Unfoundlands by Peter Drewett, who moved from carving
wooden crocodiles ["carving, yes; crocodiles, no." Peter
interjects with a chuckle] to making delicate traceries with hot
pokerwork on polished gourds, following the outlines of natural
discolorations to produce an effect like faded, watermarked
eighteenth-century maps. Suspended from the ceiling in a loose cluster,
these swollen forms, with their tattooed, map-like surfaces, revolve
slowly like molten imaginary planets waiting to come into being.
Sublime."
Visit the Peter Drewett
Salon in the E-Museum of Pyrographic Art.
Peter Drewett's work is on display at an important special exhibition
called "Home Sweet Home," which is being held from 11
October 2003 to 18 January 2004 at the National Gallery of Australia in
Canberra, the nation's capital. After closing in Canberra, the exhibit
is expected to travel internationally.
Write to Peter Drewett at peterdruid@yahoo.com.au.
|
Holocaust Memorial |
Last November, Ilanna Mandel wrote to tell me that over the
weekend, a Holocaust Memorial in Indiana had been torched by an
arsonist. I, too, had heard that news and was appalled that these
types of incidents still occur in our society. However, here is what
Ilanna actually DID in response to that news:
She wrote, "I immediately contacted the woman who runs the museum
and offered her an art piece I had created earlier as a memorial to
those who perished in the Holocaust. At the time I had done that piece,
I didn't know why. Now I do." Ilanna's memorial piece has since
been valued by the Holocaust Museum at US$500. and designated to hang in
the lobby of the remodeled museum.
In the last issue of WOM was the segment Ilanna
Mandel: A Passion for Peace and Art where Ilanna related the
details of a project she had initiated to sell two pyro pieces she had
created with peace motifs for the purpose of raising money for charity.
She wrote back recently to tell me how pleased she was that one had sold
at a charity auction for US$250. Good work, Ilanna!
Click here to go back to page one
Click here to go back to page two
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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 eighth year of articles on pyrography for the Woodcarver Online Magazine (WOM), started January 1997, and the seventh 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 Mixo Sydenham of Warragul, Victoria, Australia. |
2004, Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez, all rights reserved.
