Thursday, April 28, 2011

(X) Xylopyrography

David Stanley
Xy`lo*py*rog"ra*phy ( n.) The art or practice of burning pictures on wood with a hot iron.

Remember wood burning kits when you were a kid ? 
You usually got to practice burning a peace sign into a sliver of wood or on a leather patch. The smoke was stinky- and the result ? Not so good...


Many artists have taken that simple tool and created intricate and beautiful works of fine art. 

Here are a few of my favorite examples. (Click on photos to see detail)

Nedra Denison
David Stanley
David Stanley
Dino Muradian
Frank Drummond
Kenan Eroglu
Pierre Larribau



Daniel Wright

Roy Hewson
So- next time your little cub scout asks for a wood burning kit for Christmas, you might indulge him. 
Who knows where it might take him? Maybe to explore xylopyrography!      

16 comments:

Jan Morrison said...

i LOVE THIS! I too found out that words with xy in it usually had to do with wood in some form or another but I went with the x-chromosome instead! I love the carvings on the fruit shapes - I'd like to do that. I want a wood-burning kit for xmas.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful wood burnings. Unfortunately, if I gave our cub scout grandson a woodburning kit he would probably burn the house down.

sisterlinda said...

Beautiful pieces of art. I know for a fact my xyloprography skills would be the 70's peace sign!

Thanks for sharing.

Luana Krause said...

My little brother had one of these when he was about 12. I think he just wanted to burn something. Why is it all kids are pyromaniacs?

I love the artwork you've shown here. David Stanley's owl has beautiful detail, but my favorite is Kenan Eroglu's piece with the man on the the steps. The composition is captivating. It tells a story...lonliness? Isolation? Despair?

Mama Jewel said...

Just added a new word to my vocabulary! Neat pics....but didn't you use wood burning on your "snake" gourd to make the snake skin look real? You should post that picture again..with a close up shot. Maybe we should have a "wood burning art contest" for Sister's weekend......well, maybe not, we know who would win! LOL

Sherrie said...

Hi!
Beautiful works of art! My son was a cub scout and they did some wood burning. Have a great day!

Sherrie
Just Books

Gail Wilson said...

Great choice for the letter X!
Hugs, Gail

Margaret Hall said...

First---LOVE the snazzy background..~!!
GREAT, great word for X...I was really dizzy when I finally came up with my posting..lol..
I had a wood-burning kit, and did some ugly crafts with it, NOT like these wonderful specimens that you have gifted us~! What artistic jewels they are~! Shall we see you take up the smoldering iron??
Aren't some of your gourds with wood burning??..
Hey! Two more letters and we can take that Caribbean Cruise...lol!!
See you at "Y"

Snakesmom said...

Your blog is beautiful! Wow! I was blown away looking at all the great art work and bright colors, I love it. :) Happy "X" day!

Beth Zimmerman said...

Wow! New word, and art form, to me but I LOVE it!

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

I never knew this art form had an official name. Oh yes, I remember them well. I seem to remember my brother practicing his skills on the dining room table:(
Thanks for visiting with me...haven't see any feathered friends, I think they're too shallow.

Tracy said...

Oh my gosh, you're kidding me right? I had no idea such intricate work was done with wood burning...my brothers had those and they were only to do it in the basement; not sure why but perhaps it was the smell?
thank you so much for sharing that art form...just beautiful and thanks for stopping by my house! I like new visitors! ...glad you enjoyed yourself.

Karen M. Peterson said...

I have learned so many new x words today!

These are some beautiful pieces. I am amazed by people who can create like this.

Karate Los Angeles said...

I can't say that anything I ever worked on looked anything like that. I wonder how long it took them to make so much detail?

Anonymous said...

you have taken art work off of other people's site without their permission. While it's nice that you respect their art work you do need to get permission from the original artist before posting it on your website or blog.

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