Pyrography
Wood is intrinsically interesting to me, as a product of Nature, for its colour and texture, the story of its growth written in the grain, and the sheer variety of UK timbers.
Natural wood is available to buy for pyrographers and artists
I like to cut a few slices from every log I find and have amassed a fair number. These come in various sizes, regular or wild in shape and texture. I can supply some plywood if that's all you want. Painters may need a sealed surface, seal it themselves, or accept a ready-sealed piece to protect the wood in storage.
More Than Plywood, Slices of Interest for Pyroarts
Pyrography, on the other hand, needs a well sanded but untreated surface. Perhaps any artist needs encouragement to step outside the basic frame and begin on the door or wall, to accept something other than square-edged fresh white.
Wood, for those who love it, is already a medium with style, delicate tone, and the rawness of nature. The medium is already part of the story.
It is impossible to list 1000 pieces in various woods, mostly rectangular, some round slices of a branch, some natural-edged, yet here are some clues.
Ranging in size from 10 cm to a metre or more in length and 5 to 40 cm wide. Bigger by request, 10-20mm thick
Smaller pieces are usually thinner, say 5 or 6mm; larger ones maybe 8 or 10mm, to save sanding my fingernails.
These are not offcuts, they are large or small logs sliced up in the length, like bread cut lengthways.
Sometimes, two adjacent slices are paired and hinged as an opening card, like a birthday card, using a thin elastic cord in predrilled holes.
Perhaps one, or two long edges of any sized piece are left natural, ie, the side is not cut off straight but up to the surface of the log.
A piece with one long straight edge as the base may suggest a Landscape drawing. Grain is often suggestive of seascape or land and sky.
If both long edges are natural, it may stand as a Portrait design.
Better pyro machines and blowtorches allow the pyrartist to handle bigger pieces faster and are less dependent on perfect surfaces. Some of my clients embellish pyro art with colour pencil or acrylic paint.
Wood grain… hmm, what to say, somewhere between wild to bland, light to dark, flat to warped
Some woods twist spectacularly in drying, others hardly at all. They are stable when dry. Beginners like sycamore or birch, and some folk don’t want darker woods because burns don’t stand out either.
Some woods burn crisply: sycamore, holly, birch, lime, cherry, and most fruitwoods, while some are not so easy for a beginner but have the reward of wild grain or beautiful colours like yew or mulberry.
If your designs cover the whole wood, then plywood is good. Birch, maple, and poplar are available untreated. If plywood is really all you want, I can supply a small range of Birch.
If you want a unique tree piece and are ready to let the grain inspire you, try a few unique pieces or a mixed box.
Supply details to consider
Individual pieces range from £3, £5, £7, £10, and £15, £20, £25 for a plank.
Mixed boxes can be requested as primarily small, mostly medium, or mostly large:
12, 8, or 5 pieces, up to 28 x 16 cm
£25 a box + £4 p&p
and Natural or Straight Edged or a mix, Wild grain or Bland or somewhere between.
Then consider lightness of tone, richness of grain, and colour.
These will be supplied from stock and within range.
If you have exact specifications, I will do my best to fulfil them, but it may take longer to find/cut and sand.
I have 1000 pieces ready to sell, and another similar amount is drying in my shed, so I prefer elastic spec supplies.
They will be fully sanded on at least one surface, often two. The reverse is smooth.
Pairs of pieces for Opening cards are sanded on all surfaces, so you can use the front and back covers and the inside pair of facing mirrored pages for your design.
There are also Panorama landscape cards with a split front, opening to the left and right to reveal a full-width inner 15’’ wide.
Odd natural shapes are always present, from twists or bends with one smooth sanded surface to a pyro and a flat standing base.