CONTENTS
Page One:
- Introducing Dragos Ciutacu
- Vladislav Kostenko: Fine Knives
- François Peeters: Pyrography in Bas Relief
Page Two:
- Antique Plaque of a Young Lady at Graduation
- Abdulwahab Mihoub: Looking Back and Going Forward
- Michael Janson: Experimenting with Variations on a Theme
- Abby Levine: Delving Into Political Satire
Page Three:
- Adriano Colangelo: Applied Art
- Dino Muradian: Music Fest in Germany
- Paul Chojnowski: Solo Show in New York City
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The Little Beggar Girl |
Romanian artist Dragos Ciutacu lives and works in Bucharest
where he is presently learning the technique of pyrography under the
expert tutelage of the very well known Dino Muradian, whose work has
graced the pages of this e-zine on many occasions since the premiere
issue in January 1997.
The work above is one of Dragos's latest works. It is after a painting
by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and, if you are curious, you can see
the original painting at the following link: Illusions Gallery.
Dino, who has had many requests for classes since he returned from the
United States to Romania a few years ago, is particularly proud of
Dragos Ciutacu.
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Three Knives |
|
Vladislav Kostenko
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|
Three Knives, detail of pyrography |
|
Elephant |
It was thanks to
François Peeters that IAPA member
Ivan Govaerts got his start in pyrography. Ivan tells all about
that meeting at an arts and crafts fair in his own story published here
a year ago in Pyrograffiti 23. As it turns out, François got his start
in pyrography in much the same way.
Here is his story as translated from the Dutch by Ivan.
"François was born in Mortsel (Near
Antwerp in Belgium) on the 17th of May 1941 and was raised along
with two sisters. [For about the last 30 years, however, he has been
living in Battel, near Malines, only a mile or so from his friend Ivan.]
In François's family, drawing was something that was always
present in the
male genes. François only went to elementary school, but took
some evening
classes to become a carpenter. His father was a decorative interior
painter who did faux finishes,
so François learned to imitate wood and marble finishes from him.
Because of his love for
the paintbrush, François started to do oil paintings on canvas
and watercolor paintings. There was always some drawing or painting activity
in the family despite the lack of any academic education.
François's uncle even rendered paintings that were copies of
Peter Paul Rubens' work.
|
Owl in Flight |
As a young boy François started to draw with an ordinary pencil, but later, with the help of a traveling salesman who visited his parents, François progressed to art pencils. Later he developed his own style using black oil pastel in combination with India ink (using a Rotring pen [aka a Rapidograph pen] ) and working in pointillism, which he still uses. In 1970, François was exhibiting his paintings at a hobby fair and there he met a pyrographic artist. At once it was the beginning of a whole new direction and hobby.
|
Untitled |
"Most of the time," Ivan writes, "François tries
to use wood slices with bark on the edges and irregularly shaped pieces
of found wood. Older people, children, and animals are his favorite
subjects!!! He is always very creative with discarded materials, as you
can see on his François
Peeters website, and he finds inspiration in almost everything. On
his site, by way of a posthumous homage to his father from whom he
inherited his talents and learned many skills, François displays
two paintings, dated 1950, done by his father in an unusual technique
that the elder developed himself."
Of late François has been experimenting with a combination of
pyrography and relief carving. This is how he works in his own (Dutch)
words translated by Ivan: "When I do pyrographic work in relief, I
proceed as follows: First, I make a drawing with pencil just as I would
normally for a pyrographic work. With a wood mill [router], I remove the
wood around the drawing, staying 1 cm [about half an inch] away from the
lines. In places where more wood has to remain, to carve shapes, for
instance, such as trees or plants like those you can see in the picture
of the elephant, I have to alter the depth. The elephant was drawn on
the wood much as sculptors prepare their sculptures. It is necessary to
establish the correct level of depth for each plane of the picture. I
can tell that my training as a carpenter is very opportune. Without
boasting I can say that I have the gift to observe before I start a piece."
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Untitled detail |
"In some other works of mine, I use a technique I developed to make
a sort of bas relief without carving or the use of machines. Using a
pyro pen that is not too hot, I press the soft wood to create a
different level or plane. When pyroengraving a horse head, for example,
you can use this technique to make a bridle that feels real. In doing a
man's portrait like the one above, for instance, it is possible to give
dimension to some individual hairs or to give the ears or the glasses
more depth, etc. "
"This look has become my trademark, and I get all sorts of
positive reactions from the people who see my work, because this
technique produces
such a lifelike effect."
|
Duck, detail |
Be sure and visit the François
Peeters website to see more of his work and read more of his story.
It is nicely presented in
three languages (Dutch, French, and English). Look for the François
Peeters salon in the E-Museum, too.
Ivan, who graciously served as intermediary by
translating from Dutch to English to make this story come about, has
this to say about his friend: "François is . . . a great
artist who is always very polite and helpful to other artists. I can
look at his work for hours and he gives me the courage to go on."
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Duck |
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2004, Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez, all rights reserved.
