Bears

 I was born and raised at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, so it is not all that surprising that some of my work has that Adirondack flare.  I love nature and have spent a great deal of time in the woods, hunting, hiking, canoeing, camping, etc... 

This Black Bear, tri-layered, box fretwork piece is made from four types of wood.  The back is maple, the mountains are birch, the trees are poplar, the bear is stained birch and the frame is stained pine.

I used the same template of this bear for this small pine box's lid.  Stains were used to accent the ground, background, mountains, and sky.  The bear was covered with wood burning, but the pitch lines in the pine burned to different shades.  The lighter wood would not darken.  Another live and learn moment.

The Grizzly Bear Bust was burnt onto poplar and pine trim was stained black and used to make the frame.  I love this technique of darkening only sections of the picture.  This patterns was originally for fretwork. Seeing the black felt backer gave me the idea to burn the dark area.  The poplar's  dark grain lines add a vintage or rustic feel to the piece. 

The bear reminds me "Gentle Ben" an old TV show I watched in my youth.  Nostalgia had me hunting through some photos yesterday.  We have thousands and my husband is a huge shutterbug (more so than me) and I stumbled upon some great nature pics to make into templates.  Among them were a few different species of bears.  I can see an Asian, a black and a polar bear pyrography project in the near future.

How about you? - tell me if and how your region of birth affected your Art.  Is there a recurring theme or subject matter.  Was your medium of expression influenced?  - let me know.

- Take Care -