Burnt Beginnings

Burnt Offerings

Rebecca Waugerman

Burnt Beginnings Rebecca Waugerman

Š 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author only and not those of York College of Pennsylvania.

This book is an experimental class project for purely educational design purposes.

Design by Rebecca Waugerman Printed by www.lulu.com

I am dedicating this book to my father, Jeff Waugerman, my grandfathers Clair Waugerman and Harry Miller. They have always inspired and taught me, aswell as continue to. I realize how much patience that takes. This book would not have been possible without them. They are three men in my life that I will forever love and be grateful for. I know I can rely on them for anything and everything because they always welcome me with open arms and make me smile no matter the situation. My fondest and dearest memories are with them and I am forever indebted. I love you three and I thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do.

A special thank you to my mom Melissa Waugerman, my dad Jeff Waugerman, my grandfather Clair Waugerman, my grandfather Harry Miller, my boyfriend Corbin Hensley, my peers, and art director for all of your help and support. You all contributed in an individual and unique way to help me with this accomplishment over the past few months.

Burnt Beginn

nings

Contents

1- History 2- Family 3- Personally 4- References

History

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Originally called pyrography, wood burning was an art that originated in pre-history through a natural progression of understanding and human nature to communicate stories, patterns, and designs.

Early man documented life with images and drawings on cave walls with storytelling. Once fire was discovered people would use charcoal from old fires to draw on the walls and other natural materials. Most of the artifacts found were patterns and designs rather than stories. Through a natural progression of intuition of understanding and human nature, people began trying new materials that led to stone and eventually to metal to scrape the wood charred from fires. Pyrography was used by some ancient Egyptians and African tribes. In China, wood burning is known as “fire needle embroidery” because not only do they burn into wood, but they also burn into leather and gourds. The Greeks called wood burning “writing with fire” and often would combine the art of pyrography with painting to create a more dimensional look on their work.

Wood burning was somewhat reversed at that point from what it is now because the wood that was already blackened from fires were carved in to, to expose the natural wood, whereas now artists use natural wood and blacken the areas and lines they draw, just like a pen to paper. The method those people were using back then, however, was not permanent. Over time those charred pieces would fall off and be broken off if you weren’t careful so drawings and patterns would become distorted and uneasy to read.

Now work is more permanent because the natural wood that is burnt won’t chip if dropped or wear away.

Along with work being more permanent tools to make permanent work was invented in order to aid that process. Metal started becoming implemented in more work and more jobs because not only was it more sturdy, but metal manufacturing also created more job opportunities. The basic metal tools at the time were called “pokers”. These tools were made in the Medieval times.

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Archaeologists have found artifacts dating back to the first century because pyrography was more popular in the Medieval, Renaissance and Victorian eras, but was mostly a past time activity rather than a form of employment.

Tools The tools necessary consisted of a portable pot or stove and what was called the pokers that we now know as nibs. Multiple holes would be cut in the top of the pot or stove to allow heat to be released, as well as to give a place to put the pokers in the fire to heat them to then place on the wood to create marks. Many

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pokers were required along with many holes in the pot or stove, because multiple pokers had to be heating at the same time to allow the artist to keep up momentum on their project rather than heating one over and over and waiting for the poker to become hot enough to use. The pokers would cool very quickly so artists would spend more time waiting on those pokers to heat up than they would actually be working on their project.

At this point in time wood burning was called “poker

work� and the wealthy or the local craftsmen would use this as a past time. Shortly after it would turn into a

commercial endeavor when they realized they could

make a profit off this past time activity. This didn’t happen however until the invention of the first machine.

During the Industrial Revolution was when pyrography really came into play because a pyrography tool similar to a soldering iron was invented, allowing more control of the tools and more practicality. Artists were able to bring the work indoors into their art studios rather than sitting outside in the cold all winter.

Technique hardly changed at all, the major change has been the tools used in the pyrography process. Burning with a hot tool is still the only way to create wood burning, but the differently shaped nibs that have evolved over time allow for more accurate, more detailed, and more intricate work. The tools have only become finer tuned and more advance since now not only can you

change the shape of your burn but you can also change the temperature of the tool which makes it easier to include details like shading.

Egyptians Egypt has the only climate where wood doesn’t have to be taken care of to survive. Elsewhere wooden carvings must be protected and taken care of in order to endure. Wood carvings have been around since the stone age onward and are mentioned in the book of Exodus in the Bible in the Tabernacle and on the ark of the covenant since most carvings were on doors and wooden panels in sacred places. Due to war and barbarianism in 700-900 A.D. art and images were forbidden because it brought about artist copying Roman sculptures of pagan gods.

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Wood carvers were inspired by early stone carvings but were more decorative and less sculptural. In Europe wood carvings were confined to Monasteries because with the war and violence taking place at the time it was thought to be the only place safe enough to practice. Wood carving later flourished in Europe alongside medieval, Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

Ancient Egyptian drawings from 2000 B.C. depict wooden furnishings like beds, chairs, stools, tables, beds, and chests. The majority of wooden furnishings salvaged were found preserved in tombs of wealthy people from that time. Egyptians invented the art of veneering or gluing thin slices of wood together. Some of the

examples of the earliest veneering are 5,000 years old and are found in the tomb of Semerkhet, an early Egyptian king that ruled during the first dynasty. Many pharaohs were buried with objects that had African ebony and ivory inlays. Even though that is the case, scholars have found that Egyptians were the first to varnish or finish their work, although no one truly knows what the composition was of the finish.

Ancient Egyptian woodworkers used a variety of tools such as axes, adzes, chisels, pull saws, and bow drills.

During the pre-dynastic period (3100 B.C., the period of the first pharaoh) used mortise and tenon joints to join pieces of wood.

“The tools have only become finer tuned and more advance...�

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They would also use pegs, dowels, and leather or cord lashings to strengthen the joints rather than using nails or screws to connect boards of wood. Rather than using any of those options for strengthening or bracing wood, animal glue came to rise in the New Kingdom Period (1570 B.C. through 1069 B.C.). Egyptologists found the world’s oldest piece of plywood in a third dynasty coffin that was made of six layers of wood that totaled to by 4 millimeters thick, held together by wooden pegs.

Other Cultures Wood is a large part of other cultures history and art besides our own. Wood is the principle type of African sculpture used to produce masks, statuettes, religious objects and general decorative items. Wood is also widely used in Oceanic art for the carving of ceremonial canoes and other objects. American Indians even used wood for their totem poles. The Aboriginal Australians dabbled in using wood for art with paintings and carving patterns that were very geometric. Greeks mainly used ivory for their carvings and decoration but they started to shift into using some wooden décor as time went on due to how different the two materials work and shape. Although many different groups of people used wood to carve and shape most of the art has perished because of water damage, aging, war, destruction, etc.

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Wood Carving There are different types of carving such as chip carving, relief carving and Scandinavian flat-plane carving that a majority of people can recognize. Carving in wood can be beneficial because of its fibrous strength it can be carved more precisely and the wood can be more thin without cracking or breaking under pressure. When an artist is making a carving that is large enough, they may use more than one chunk of wood and carve them separately to be joined later on. Oak, mahogany, walnut, elm, limewood, chestnut, ebony, boxwood, cedar, cypress, olive, teak and pine are popular woods to carve with because they are all either hardwood that is more durable, luster, and have more endurance and are harder to carve or softwoods that are easier to shape but are less durable. The only downsides to working with wood is that the art are vulnerable to insects, airborne fungi, it’s degradable, and it is water absorbent.

History of Woodworking and It’s Influence on Civilization Originally tools used for woodworking were more often than not what people used for self-defense. They’d use these tools for building basic shelters to live in rather than being exposed to the elements. Archaeologists discovered a wooden club and digging sticks at Kalambo Falls on the Kalambo River on the border of Zambia and Tanzia on the far south-western side of Africa right outside of Congo, one of the poorest countries in Africa. Through wood working, man has become better able to kill animals for food, clear land for crops, build boats, buildings, and furniture to have the necessary tools and what were at the time luxuries

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for survival. Woodworking became an important process for the advancements of the people.

after his death, all of his teachings were compiled into

a book titled, Lu Ban Jing (Manuscript of Lu Ban). The

Egyptians used a variety of wood in their art and architecture, mostly native acais, local, sycamore, and tamarisk trees. After the deforestation occurred in the Nile Valley in the Second Dynasty, the natives began importing wood from the middle east like cedar, Aleppo pine, boxwood, and oak. They also imported ebony from other Egyptian colonies to construct items like inlaid wooden chests that went into the tombs of the pharaohs.

water). Even though glue-less and nail-less joinery is

Chinese

In the book of Genesis, Noah was the first woodworker

Early Chinese civilizations promoted wood working and it mushroomed in 720 B.C. when they developed precise measurements. Lu Ban is credited as one of the originators of woodworking by bringing plane

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chalk line and other tools to China. About 1500 years

book contained documentation of work as a carpenter,

descriptions of dimensions for building various objects,

specific instructions concerning Feng Shui (wind and

what Chinese furniture was famous for, nothing regarding those techniques are in the book.

Biblically and his biggest project wasn’t a house, but it was a 120-

year project. He built an ark from cypress wood coated with pitch inside and out. During the time of Solomon, the Phoenicians were skilled in intricate woodworking.

They mostly made furniture with inlays of ivory carvings.

Lebanese cedar was imported from Lebanon which is one of the most popular building materials in biblical

times. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus’ fa-

ther Joseph was a carpenter. In the Jewish culture the

father was required to teach his son at 12 years old. Car-

penters constructed or repaired plows or threshing

sleds, cut roofing beams, shaped yokes for new teams of

oxen, made and installed new doors or frames, made

storage chests, wooden balconies, as well as doors and stairs for synagogues and holy objects like a Torah

cabinet to store scripture scrolls. The carpenters used

cypress, oak, ash, sycamore, olive, and small stocks of

vine for small projects. When they needed wood they would saw trees into boards using large bronze saws

and fellow workers, the trees in the region were not large

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or straight so it was a challenge. They used tools such as saws, mallets, adze, plummet and line, chisels, rule sticks, plane, squares, bow drills, and a bow-lathe. These tools gave carpenters the ability to create dovetailed, mitered, and dowelled joints. In Exodus, it gives descriptions of the chronicles of construction of wooden holy items for the Tabernacle.

The Roman Empire crafted furniture that stylistically represented arms of either animal or mythological creatures. Archaeologists found a furniture shop intact in Pompeii where they used ilex, beech, maple, elm, olive, and ash. The most prized wood is the African Thyme which was believed to have magical powers. It was believed to be from the Cedar family, it was fragrant and beautiful and was called citrus or citron wood. Roman carpenters used axes and adzes.

Now we have moisture meters. Wagner Meters engineered the first portable and practical electromagnetic wave moisture meter in the 90’s.

IntelliSense technology measures moisture in wood not on it. They now scan the wood instead of using pins that damage the surface.

During the Middle Ages wood was the most common building material and so carpenters prospered. The workers belonged to guilds which protect the interests of people in certain occupations, like today’s unions.

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Knowing the history of your hobbies and passions is important because without knowing how things used to be, you’ll never figure out how to continue on and grow off of what has already been done. There is a lot of in-depth history about art and how it branches off into subtopics. More history than I could cover in one assignment. Knowing how things operate and why they are important is vital in creating any new work. To an uneducated person a painting is just paint on a canvas, but to someone that has read over the history of that painting and taken the time to know about it before glancing at it and walking away. In order to truly appreciate anything in life we must know the background behind it, otherwise, we only like or dislike what we see on the surface. Sure some art doesn’t look good, whether it has an important story or not, however, when you know about something in depth you grow more or less fond of it based not only on its appearance but also its story.

The Stickley Brothers were very influential in the woodworking world between 1891 and about 1947. Over 120 years ago in Binghamton, New York the brothers started crafting simple wooden chairs, that is when the two families the Stickleys and Audis began to thrive. There were five brothers total, Gustav, Albert, Charles, Leopold and John George.

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They moved to Pennsylvania where they started making furniture in their Uncles factory around 1877. Through their 60 years over collaborating with one another and a bit of competition, American furniture was changed.

In 1844 Gustav, Albert and Charles moved the company to New York after only a year. From then on out the brothers worked as both partners and competitors through numbers of companies and collaborations. One of the brothers Gustave founded the company United Crafts and extended the branch between art and life. At this time he also began publishing The Craftsman magazine where he featured furniture that was Arts and Crafts, or mission style with straight lines and little ornament.

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In 1916 Leopole and John George invited Gustav to form Stickley Associated Cabinetmakers to save the

Craftsman Workshop company. Albert joined the company in 1917. The company merged when they bought Gustav’s Eastwood factory and increased production. This was just one of the many companies they worked for and founded as brothers.

The Stickley brothers learned furniture-making while they worked for their uncle Jacob Schlager and his business partner. Jacob started the company in Pennsylvania and moved it to New York making and selling Windsor and Shaker-style chairs. Eventually down the road they added more elaborate Colonial Revival rockers and their success from that experimental sale opened many doors for the Stickley family.

This family made a lot of advances on the furniture industry and had an impact on modern furniture as we know it today.

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2 Family

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My family has always inspired me to work hard and mot quit until the job gets done.

They inspire me and help me grow every day. Even though it might sound cheesy its true. Since I was young I always enjoyed getting my hands dirty and being outside being a “tomboy�, so it wasn’t surprising when I decided to start working with industrial materials and natural elements rather than just a pen and paper or a computer. I was always more interested in what my dad was doing outside and wanting to watch him than be inside watching T.V. unless it was with him.

Clair Waugerman My grandfather, Clair Waugerman, taught my dad a lot while he was growing up and it was all things my dad could pass down to us like knowing the ins and outs of my car or how to grill a mean steak. Some things are better taught by the master though like making furniture and carving or burning wood. He started making things from wood in his high school shop class and enjoyed it so much he later went on to get a job in a factory that made wooden products. He never went on to college or got any kind of secondary education other than what the world around him could teach. He had the chance to see how furniture was made industrially as well as by a single person and how to improve his craft and techniques. A man he used to know that owned a cabinet shop was going out of business and was selling all of his equipment so my grandfather went and bought it all from him to use in his shop.

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His favorite thing to make is tables but he has made bedroom sets, cabinets, clocks, and he even remodeled his entire house when he and my Nan first bought it.

When asked he says he doesn’t find making furniture therapeutic as much as he finds it satisfying when it “really looks nice”.

Most of the work he makes is for his family especially the grandkids. One tradition my dad’s side of the family has is that my pap makes a Hope Chest for each of the grandkids, as a graduation present, that will hold their graduation papers, wedding memories, and any other keepsakes we find important and want to preserve.

Looking back he can’t believe everything he has made.

He doesn’t let anything get him down or keep him out of his shop even after losing my Nan about 2 years ago or shortly after severing the end of his thumb on a table saw while working on a project. He never ceases to amaze me and show me what it means to be strong and independent.

I got the privilege to have a tour and crash course in his shop. He showed me the process he goes through when making a piece for someone. First, he runs the board through a planer, a machine that makes the board nice and smooth. Depending on the type of wood it may need to run through a couple times. (board in photos is cherry) Then he uses router bolts to put the edges on the board which is good for the tops of tables to give it a more finished or traditional look. When making table legs it is good to have a wood lathe because it helps smoothen the wood with carvings and engravings done in them than trying to sand it by hand.

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My pap calls it an “offlaid sander for the edges of boards”. If you need to connect two boards together but don’t want to use a drill or screws, running the wood through a joiner will make the edge of it perfectly

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flat so the boards touch evenly. Once the wood is cut, sanded, flattened and ready to join, a biscuit cutter is the tool to have handy because it cuts slots into the wood so there is a stronger bond than just gluing the surfaces of the wood together. After the biscuit cutter makes a slot, wood glue is drizzled over the edge of the wood and in those cutouts. Use the biscuit cutter the same way on the other piece of wood and use the wood glue again.

Now on one of the boards, insert a wooden biscuit into the slots so it bonds with the glue and connects the boards with the biscuit inserted in both boards. Use a hammer to make sure the pieces are tight to one another, then wood clamps or c clamps to hold the wood in place and allow the glue to dry, wiping off any excess.

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He will get his wood from anywhere, but he looks for specific things in the wood he purchases. One main thing he looks at when purchasing wood to use is the grain. He looks for something different depending on the project, for example he would use straight grain on a door because its stronger whereas a swirly grain wood look better on a table top. The hardest part about the craft, in his opinion, is putting on the finish or the stain and making it all even and not too dark or too light, although the type of stain is more up to who he is making the product for, he does like stain more than paint. I asked what advice he would give to someone just starting out and he said, “Buy a good make of tools, Dewalt or Porter Cable work the best for him so that’s what I recommend.”

Harry Miller One of my other grandfathers, Harry Miller, also has a background in making and refurbishing furniture. His first project was a horse shed he made when he was fourteen years old. It held up well regardless of him forgetting to square angles and corners in the process. The shed was an a frame, twenty seven square foot and was open floor to ceiling, a little rough, but it held for many years until he moved out and it was no longer maintained.

He has always been interested in wood working and pays good attention to the scent of the wood he uses during a project. Through his experience he has learned that, “You can do a lot with a few tools like a table saw, a router and a jointer.” He also advises, “Get the best tool you can afford.

There’s no substitute for a good tool.”

When looking for wood to use in his projects he prefers oak, but also recommends pine and poplar.

He says his least favorite is walnut because it creates bitter and pungent dust that no matter what kind of mask you wear it will get in your nose and throat.

Just like Clair he knows what to look for based on the project at hand. Doors and cabinets call for a straight grain, something pretty should have a flat or curvy looking grain. Edge grain is also a factor in what wood he chooses to work with for example gun stocks are made of logs, that’s why the grain pattern on them looks different than it does on furniture.

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If he gets to pick the project he works on it will for sure be something small, that doesn’t take a lot of time, like furniture, small buildings, birdhouses, cabinets, etc. His main piece of advice to those in my generation starting to work on hands-on projects is to start out with small projects so you aren’t in over your head with a lot of tools and you can progress as youimprove to more complicated projects.

It is good to find comfortable tools. “If tools don’t fit your hand and feel comfortable it won’t work.” He likes to use Porter Cable and Bosh tools because he finds that they work the best. This isn’t his everyday job so it is more of a hobby that he does for fun. Conservatively he has helped build about one hundred thirty houses and most of them were modular.

My Dad My dad always is ready and willing to help me with projects that I agree to that I refuse to accept are over my head. I may be the artist but he is a crafter and keeps me on track with assembly and installation. Even when I think a project seems impossible, after promising to have it done, he doesn’t let me throw in the towel. He shows me how to keep on track and figure things out. He hasalways been good with tools as he grew up working on cars and helping build houses.

When I don’t even know where to start he shows me my starting point and where to go from there. There are always multiple stops along the way of asking questions, seven times out of ten it’s asking for help.

During my Homegrown project he had a hard time imagining what I was trying to accomplish at first but after a couple of rough sketches and some explanation he was on board and was pulling materials out from everywhere that I could use. Thank goodness he is an electrician because he has leftover parts from old job sites all throughout the garage.

He handed me a reel of insulated copper wire that I was convinced weighed more than I did. That turned out to be what I used to form all my letters and support. It was fairly easy to bend and when I came home with the first set of letters we were ready to get to work. You know you trust someone when you let them hold a scorching hot iron inches away from your hand without moving. I held that trust for what I like to think is the majority of the time until the wire under my gloves was hot enough to burn my fingers. We had a lot of laughs and stressful moments during that experiment but it was all worth it when we saw the final product. All the letters were the right size, the figure stood solid as a whole.

There is no way I could have completed that without him. He was there from start to end and I still feel the need to say thank you for all the time he put into it.

My Dad, Jeff Waugerman, grew up working on a farm down the road from his house and helping his dad, Clair Waugerman, around the house and the garage. The farm he worked on taught him a lot, especially about the importance of a hard day’s work.

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He believes working on the farm better prepared him for the real world than a restaurant or retail job could have. He helped with building trailers, attachments for the tractor and lawn rollers to make life a little easier for him and his dad. They had a large garden when my dad was growing up so they needed a plow that they removed from a large tractor and downsized it to fit what they needed. The trailer they built was for hauling wood and coal since my grandfather was burning both at the time for heat. The trailer they made 27

was originally from a camper they took apart. They used axels and such to make the trailer and sold the rest.

Building things from scratch and fix-ing what they had saved them a lot of money because they didn’t have the money to buy new equipment. He helped wire an entire house back home with his cousin Eddie Waugerman and worked on car engines with my great grandfather George Holler doing routine maintenance so he was well rounded by the time he was ready to move out. He is a third generation electrician as he

helped his dad who was a lineman with any side work he had. That is how he decided he wanted to go into electrical work, because he enjoyed problem-solving and working with his hands so he thought it would be a good fit for him, and he was right. He said if he’d had a son he would have hoped he’d do something not as physically difficult with more pay like an engineer or an architect.

After high school he attended vocational trade school, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania for about a year and a half.

When we finished his schooling he moved to Washington D.C. and worked for the company TA Beach for a while before starting with Dynalectric in D.C. and Virginia.

When he moved he was able to bring his tools with him as well as some my grandfather gave him to help him get started in the city.

When asked what advice he would give to the next generation he said to, “Find something that makes you happy so you don’t mind getting up at 3 am and going to work. Something that makes your core happy.”

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His favorite job to do is new construction, “because you’re taking something bare, that has nothing and making something from it like switch panel rooms, wiring, etc.” He has dealt with many difficult clients in his past and he says in situations like that to, “Remember that it’s only temporary, jobs only last one to six months so its temporary. Remind yourself of that and you’ll get through it.” My dad is somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to his work and he believes you should always take pride in your work so he rates craftsmanship a 9/10 on a scale of importance.

When it comes to tools he prefers he says it depends on the job and the type of tool. For pliers he prefers Klein, power tools, Milwaki, screwdrivers, Craftsman and Klein tool boxes, hacksaws, Craftsman. The brand definitely makes a difference because you need good tools to do good work.

Although the job comes with physical demands and challenges he wouldn’t change his decisions or journey for anything. He is happy with where he is at and how far he has come. He is happy being a Foreman for Dynaand plans to retire in that position. I have always looked up to these three men in my life. They have taught me the importance of hard work and dedication, especially to something you love. They’ve always been willing to teach me what to do rather than do it themselves or expect me to know. They take the time and have the patience to walk me through what I need to do and explain how things work and why something looks or does what it does. I wish I had taken interest in things like this at a younger age because now that 29

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I have it plays a huge role in my life and is something I want to pursue throughout my career. I never knew all the ways I could apply graphic design to handmade or industrial work until I started watching them and envisioning ways to take what they are doing and incorporating what I am learning in school. When you’re open minded you can learn so much and make something brand new.

I think that is why I enjoy things like this so much because it isn’t what we do in the classroom. We use pieces of what I learn in classes to accomplish the graphic design aspect and we use what they know to make what my design will go on. Any time I need help with a project they are always ready to step up to the plate

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and take on any challenge I throw their way. I have been incredibly blessed with an amazing family and support system to keep me going each and every day.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for my career and I hope my family is always a part of it. They never cease to amaze me, whether that’s because of how crazy they are or how wonderful they are. These past few months of making this book have been a challenge but they’ve been there every step of the way.

I hope one day I am able to make a difference in their lives the way they have made a difference in mine.

There is so much more that is left for me to learn and I look forward to gaining the knowledge and experience from people that have been doing what I aspire to do for over 50 years.

3 Personally

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My family has always had a strong influence on what I believe in and how I approach things on a variety of topics. Both of my parents are fairly creative and they have always encouraged me to branch out and try new things. When I started in the graphic design program at York College I wanted to try new ways of making art. I was interested in letterforms and ways to make letterforms on mediums outside of just paper and pencil.

For Christmas of 2016 my mom had been looking for a sign for our kitchen unsure of what she wanted it to say but she knew she wanted something rustic and wooden. That was when I decided to try my hand at making signs. I did a little research and came to the conclusion that I could purchase everything I needed at a store down the road from school and it wouldn’t be too expensive.

After purchasing some wood with bark left on it and a solder iron I knew it was time to get to work. I started drawing letterforms out on the wood without much knowledge to what I was doing and made the mistake of trying to burn the wood in my dorm room. It made everything stink and came close to setting off our fire alarm. I took it home and sat in the garage while my parents were at work on my break and practiced and practiced.

Looking back it by far is not my best work but it did impress my parents for my first try. From there pictures were posted on social media and I got multiple messages from friends asking for me to make them signs with their names or a quote or a Bible verse.

I hadn’t expected such positive feedback from an experiment. As I got more requests I improved on my lettering and started staining the wood and preparing it more appropriately.

Everything I made I posted personally online and after a while I made pages for what I called “raw designs”. Ever since I have gotten more requests for not only wood burnt signs but writing on other mediums as well.

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After taking print making in spring of 2018 I was able to carve wood with some basic tools and make prints out of them as well as linoleum. Seeing other people make prints with type and learning about a letter press class in downtown I started looking at type as more of a hands on opportunity than before and became inspired to figure out other ways to work with type that is not digital but that is more hands on.

My sophomore year of college I took a class where I participated in a show called Typorama and I was required to pick a word from a topic that was important to me. I chose the word homegrown and decided to use material that no one else would. I crafted the word out of copper wire my dad had from work. I soldered it together and shaped it based off a typeface I printed from Adobe Illustrator.

My dad taught me to solder as I only had little experience from a tree I made from the same material in high school. I stripped the wire and shaped the forms while I was at school and took them home so my dad could be my extra set of hands to help me finish my project. It was a great way to bond with him better and he taught me so much through my assignment. I learned about the tools I needed, to be successful and how to be as efficient as possible in my work.

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By shaping the letterforms out of wire to make their outline with no fill it gave the piece a 3D effect and taught me more than a computer program ever could about how serifs and

edges make up a letter and how angles look one way until you actually shape them yourself and see that they are not what you originally thought.

Ever since I started experimenting in my work I have gotten more opportunities than I ever would have if I hadn’t made that first sign. Now I am getting paid to make signs and write on materials for weddings. I love to glean from those around me and push myself to limits I am not even sure I can reach. Each class I take teaches me something new and gives me new ideas for projects to work on and experiments to try out.

I think working with hands on materials is an important part of graphic design because it brings designers back to their roots before everything was digital. As part of our education we have to take drawing classes and painting classes because before we can create art on computers we need to know the basis of design and how to create things without the help of programs. If you can’t use simple tools like paper and pencil how can you use something digital?

As designers we can’t get too caught up in the most recent technology, we need to be able to draft and edit before making a final piece. When setting type and making a book you need to write outlines, sketches, plans, etc. before jumping into the making of something. You can’t do that on a computer.

Students in college and even younger as well as anyone else caught up in the technology age should care about hands on work because it is where we all began. There is craft and design that people wouldn’t even recognize as art anymore because it isn’t traditional or modern enough.

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They forget where art started that it wasn’t always a perfect solid craft. It took experimentation and trial to form something artists were proud of that they wanted to preserve and maintain.

Before artists knew about digital technology they make work that some might consider more valuable and more impressive than some of the work being shown today that was made in minutes behind a screen.

There is something personal about work that someone put their heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into. There is also an added challenge with handmade work that you can’t go back once you start, you can only keep going or start over.

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Over the past couple of years my professors have challenged my issue of perfectionism and made me continue on and finish the piece rather than start over. They call them “happy accidents” and tell me to learn from them and make something else off of it.

The copper wire project I did pushed me to my limits because it took at least a hundred hours and the majority of the work was done on the weekends between my driving back and forth from school to home. As someone that likes a plan for everything and knowing how things will play out it was physically difficult to not know how long each piece would take to hold together and whether or not the piece would break under pressure.

At the end of the project though I had something that I was proud of and that I was excited to show off. My hands were cut up and stained green for what I thought would be eternity, my tools were a mess, my garage was without a vehicle for a while till things were cleaned up, but I was able to rid my dad of a spindle of wire from the garage.

It was rewarding to see the process take place and to see how things would come together under the stress of a time constraint. Doing a project with a new material that you aren’t familiar with is always a new experience because you start out with a timeline and plan in your

head so you make sure you have plenty of time, then as time goes on and you realize these pieces take more time than you thought and you need to adjust your calendar to compensate. Then it happens again and things get pushed back more and you’re up all night many nights to try and stay on schedule, but you can’t catch up from getting behind the first time. It teaches you time management and how to be flexible not only with other people but with yourself as well.

I was kicking myself stressing over making sure things were perfect even with how much I had going on at the time. Choosing a medium outside of the digital realm

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is more satisfying in my opinion because it is more personal and relatable to the audience you are targeting because you couldn’t just use a shape tool or pen tool in illustrator, you have to do research on material and technique to figure out what is best to use.

Tools

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When carving it is important to have all the right tools so you’ll need a knife that will cut and pare wood well. You also need a gouge with a curved cutting edge used for making hollows and curves in the wood. A specialist tool called a veiner with a u-shaped edge. A V-parting tool will be used to make a sketch on the wood then a gouge will start to shape the carving. A straight-edge chisel will be used for any lines and you will need various mallets and hammers if you are making a carving rather than a sculpture.

Process The sculptor starts by choosing a block of woof appropriate to the shape and scale of the intended design. Employing gouges of various sizes the artist then reduces the wood to an approximate shape, which they then refine with a variety of tools like veiners and v-parting tools.

Different modern artists have different recommendations as to what wood is best to use when wood burning, but most of them are similar. When looking for good wood to use for pyrography it is important to find wood that is light in color and light in grain. You don’t want wood where there are a lot of knots because they don’t want to take the heat as smoothly or accurately as smooth grain does. Beech, Birch, Sycamore, Maple, Pine, Walnut and Oak wood are all recommended as long as they are untreated.

By untreated I mean not pressure treated, particle board, or have MDF chemicals in them. If the wood falls in any of those

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categories as you burn it the wood will release harmful toxins into the air. Wood smokes when burnt so not only is that going into the air but if you are sitting hunched over the wood or have your face too close you’re breathing all of those fumes in and it will affect your airways and lungs. It is well advised to wear some sort of mask or face covering while wood burning to prevent breathing in any toxic air. Pine is a very sappy which means it also has a high fume content.

Insect infestations are also possible with reclaimed wood which makes them unsafe to burn, so it is very important to inspect whatever wood you plan to burn. Leather, water color paper or pyrography paper are all chemically treated mediums that will put off toxic fumes because they are either tanned, dyed, waterproofed, or all of the above. When looking for mediums other than wood to use or pyrography try to find leather that is vegetable tanned and or undyed. Reclaimed leather is also something to avoid. That includes old coats, wallets, purses, belts, etc. because accessories are usually made with a synthetic plastic that will melt and put off a toxic odor that not only can negatively impact you but also anyone around you. While burning it is always good to have fans going and have one behind you blowing towards you because then it will blow any smoke away from your face. Ventilation is very important because without it not only does the room fill with smoke but it also sets in any of the fabric in the room along with the saw dust from the wood.

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Along with that warning, there are many, many health hazards when it comes to wood burning. Outside of literally getting burnt most people think it’s a pretty easy and safe activity to do, but most websites you’ll find on wood burning have poison control information available and warnings to take caution while proceeding to work.

Risks include those involving: heat, toxicity, skin irritation and fumes. Before trying wood burning you should do a little research on types of wood that are best to use, where to get them at a good price and what their toxicity levels are. All wood releases smoke or fumes when burnt, but some of the fumes are less toxic than others, so why not do the extra research and use something less harmful? While burning your wood you want to stay in a well ventilated area and have fans blowing constantly. Though the new tools being invented allow the ability to move indoors with your work, that might not be the best idea, depending on where indoors you plan on working. Some experienced workers recommend wearing a mask whereas others recommend a mask and gloves to help prevent a skin irritation that some types of wood may cause. Fumes, dust, or sap can cause a medical reaction such as rash, difficulty breathing, and or burning in throat, skin, or eyes. You want to avoid wood that is painted, stained, pressure treated or molded. Even after cleaning it or sanding it, it is still considered toxic and can cause damage to your lungs.

Also you want to avoid man altered wood like plywood or MDF (medium density fiberboard). Plywood is

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toxic if you burn too much of the wood and begin melting the glue holding the layers together. MDF contains formaldehyde which is a colorless pungent gas in solution made by oxidizing methanol.

If you aren’t sure where to start getting wood to burn do your research and figure out what kind of wood you’re looking for and contact your local lumber yard.

Chances are they have a lot of scrap from wood cuts that they recycle or trash. Why not ask if you can either have it or buy it from them? Chances are you can get it pretty cheap since they hadn’t planned on using it anyway. A little conversation goes a long way.

There are different pyrography magazines that are beneficial to subscribe to for information on updated tools, beginners advice and help, workshops to learn, new patterns to either try or get inspiration from. It is a good way to do a little research because it not only talks about modern technology and techniques for wood burning, but it also talks about the history of pyrography.

Wood burning is making a comeback because it started fading away as an old form of doing things that is outdated. Now that a DIY movement is on the rise, it is a form of art that is rightly making its comeback.

With the new technology revolving around wood burning it is coming into people’s homes making it easier than ever. I believe that wood burning will get to a standstill when it comes to technology because the only way to burn something is with heat. You can take

a torch to wood and burn designs and patterns into it or you can take an iron and burn the wood but that is as much as you can do. The art will always continue to improve and evolve, but the technology will only be able to grow to a certain level of convenience before it stops. If it were an easy thing to do everyone would be doing it, devaluing the process and the end result.

My journey with graphic design started stereotypically as a child. I was always drawing and writing. I would sit in my parents adult church services and draw pictures of what our pastor was preaching on, well as much as I understood and the time. Looking back all I can do is laugh because I was so proud of the work I was making, when little did I know it wasn’t worth anything but a sentimental note in my mom’s bible. It means a lot that she still keeps them but even looking back at my work in high school I am somewhat embarrassed by what I was once so proud of because after all I’ve learned, there is so much wrong with each and every one of them. After a short period of embarrassment though that feeling turns to pride when I look at how far I’ve come and what all I have accomplished in the past 20 years of my life. Twenty years is a small portion in the grand scheme of life and the world as a whole, but that doesn’t change the amount of pride I have in all that I’ve learned because I feel that I will make a difference with what I have learned. I am a strong believer in the idea of never being perfect and always having more to learn, whether that applies

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to art, politics, religion, etc. There is never a point in your life that you can say you’ve learned it all. It inspires me how quickly the world changes and how far we as a peoplehave come since the beginning, whatever you may deem the beginning to be. That is part of why I am fascinated with primitive décor and art. There was once a point in time where what we find to be primitive or old fashioned was the newest trend and everyone had to have it, so to look down on something that is no longer considered modern is a pathetic excuse for ignorance. We can’t have an opinion on something we know nothing about.

Growing up in my home taught me discipline, determination, faith, and obedience, but most importantly to stand up for what you believe in. Most people’s minds in today’s age would immediately go to politics, which is important, but in this case I am referring to ideas, opinions, and styles. My home was always decorated in a rustic and primitive fashion year round. Growing up I didn’t like going antiquing and always having things look worn and old, however now looking back I believe that greatly shaped my style today and influences how I look at art and design as a whole. Obviously not everyone can or will appreciate that style and that’s okay but it can give someone a new outlook or new ideas to use in their own work, just as modern work can give me ideas and inspiration.

I believe that the most successful work is the work that doesn’t look like everyone else’s which can be beneficial or it can assist in an artist’s downfall. As I said

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previously we can’t have an opinion on something we know nothing about. To stand out as an artist you must know work other than your own and form ideas outside of your own opinions. It is so important to look at art from the beginning of time until now because there are so many ways to take that artists ideas or concepts and put your own twist on them to make something new.

If you look at any successful artist’s work you can see ideas, touches, or hints of other artists in their work.

Artists are the type of people that feed off other people, we need discussion and critiques to see our work through someone else’s eyes, otherwise we will never improve because we will only see what we want to see.

Knowing the background story to a piece is so important because you get to know the artists mind and motivation behind their work. It is one thing to look at art and say you like it or give your opinion, it is entirely something else to understand it and resonate with it. Art is persuasive, entertaining, interactive, mind jogging, emotional, and enticing as long as we let it do its job and we take the time to appreciate it.

Knowing all of this, when I do my work I try to not only look at it from my perspective, I am always asking for opinions and thoughts. That isn’t because I am insecure with my work or because I can’t make my own decisions. Sometimes it can be reassuring and sometimes it is vital. Just like in making this book I have been through multiple critiques and proofs before finishing and yet every time I ask someone for their

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opinion whether positive or negative, I find something

On one hand I agree with that because yes we do

something new to me every time they open it.

love to do one thing it may not be what we do to get

I want to change or adjust because they point out I adore typography, calligraphy and hand lettering

by in life. I don’t agree however with that statement

think no matter how well rounded an artist is, there

different things, but if there is something you do

or have the most passion for. I have had quite a few

it, eventually you can have the opportunity to turn it

and Jessica Hische has played a role in that passion. I

is always one or two types of art that they do best

people tell me that, “You may love to do something,

but you have to do this instead to pay the bills. Do that

thing you love in your free time or for side cash.�

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have responsibilities and no matter how much we

because it is good to be rounded and able to do many

really well and you can kick butt in it and find a job in

into a career and grow in it. I cannot wait to discover

what my future holds because I have so much time left

in life, but I hope I end up able to do what I love most.

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References

[I] Irish, Wood Carving, https://www.lsirish.com/2015/03/11/toxicity-of-wood-burning-and-wood-carving-media/ [II] Clark, Matt, Safety and Health Concerns with Pyrography, http://pyrographyworld.com/index.php/2016/08/16/safetyand-health-concerns-with-pyrography/ [III] Stewart, Jessica, How to Creatively Decorate Wood Using the Art of Typography, https://mymodernmet.com/pyrography-wood-burning-art/ [IV] History of Pyrography: The Ancient Art of Woodburning, http://www.thepyrographytool.com/history-of-pyrography/ [V] Morgan, Tony, History of Woodworking and Its Influence in Civilization, https://www.wagnermeters.com/moisture-meters/wood-info/history-of-woodworking/