ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Woodburning Away The Winter Months

Updated on October 21, 2008

My Collection Of Burnishing Tools

Pictured Above

  1. A small deer antler tip

  2. A piece of water weathered crock I found on the beach
  3. Animal teeth found in a creek in Texas, probably cattle

  4. Large deer antler pieces
  5. A couple different bones

Exploring The Art Of Woodburning

Deep in the winter months of cold and depression, from being shut in too much, I find my way to a collection of driftwood and old boards I keep on hand for times like these. The pile itself often triggers the memory of collecting one of the pieces. Thoughts of a hot summer day past, float through my mind as I touch the natural woodgrain and maybe even feel a grain of lingering sand that held fast through the journey to my studio. It is a pleasing moment and an inspiration as I begin to work this chosen wood. I settle in to ponder my project.

The first thing I like to do to my driftwood is burnish it to bring out the natural beauty of the grain. It is a process of rubbing the wood with some tool that is harder than the piece I am working. I have tried many different tools to do the process of burnishing and rejected many of them. The idea is to smooth the surface and enhance the finish. It will remove unwanted debris as well as create a polished finish. Keep in mind that this does not have to be done. There are situations where I would rather leave a piece totally natural and play on the rough texture.

When I decide to burnish a piece of wood I like using a small piece of deer antler. I have a couple of antler tips that are about 3" long and fit comfortably in the grip of my hand. I rub the grain back and forth with the antler and gently apply ever increasing pressure as I rub. This compresses the open grain and develop-es a natural lustre. It also discovers and removes soft areas that might be too rotten to woodburn successfully. This becomes a crafty process and a skill in and of itself. I have some small pieces of wood that I have burnished that will probably never become woodburnings.

I have a tendency to fall in love with a piece and decide to keep it "as is" because I do not care to put a mark on it. I think that nature created these small works of art just for my collection. I keep some of them in a basket on display in my livingroom. These always seem to find there way into the hands of my toddler sized, house guests. I enjoy watching them play with those small driftwoods and it reminds me of my own inner child who collected them. I take pride in providing alternative entertainment to children rather than watching TV or playing some high tech video game. I think that I am providing creative exploration on a basic level.

Preparing the surface to woodburn also serves to guide the outcome of my artwork. I do not decide ahead of time what it is I am going to make. I let the finished project flow from my heart and this usually produces the best works. I am practicing my profession when I work like this and this is when I learn the most about what I do. It becomes a true creative exploration and is the most rewarding. That is not to say that every piece I woodburn turns out the way I imagined it. Many pieces have found there way to the fire pit to be used as kindling or what I fondly nicknamed "FIRE FODDER". Fire fodder is my way of turning a negative outcome into a useful product. I also call it "fancy firewood".

When you start to enjoy the art of pyrography allow yourself as much freedom from rules and regulations as you can. Let your spirit flow into the work and enjoy the process. When you come to a stopping point do not be too harsh in judging your own work. What you decide is awful might be a work of beauty to the next viewer. I always leave my personal rejects on standby. I have sold more of them than I care to admit. A time might come when you do decide something you developed is no more than fire fodder. Look on the bright side and call it fancy firewood and be happy. Life is good.

Driftwood After Burnishing Process

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)