Pyrography (The Art of Burning on Wood) - The Helm of Awe

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I have recently taken up a couple of new hobbies - wood turning (more to come) and wood burning.

My Pyrography work is mainly focused on Celtic (and Viking) knotwork designs, which I eventually plan to burn onto finished wood turning projects (wooden bowls, platters and vases) when I feel 100% competent in the craft to not risk ruining a turned wooden bowl which can take between 6-8 hours to complete as a new wood turner.

I thought I would share my ongoing pyrography work with the hive community as I practice this craft.

The design in this pyrography is a Viking symbol, The Helm of Awe, comprising eight arms that look like spiked tridents radiating out from a central point.

In Viking culture, the Helm of Awe was often painted on armor and used as a magical symbol on the battlefield. In a more broad sense, the Helm of Awe symbolizes overpowering might as the tridents seems to defend the central point of the design by going on the offensive against any and all hostile forces surrounding it.

In a modern sense, The Helm of Awe is a potent symbol to use when you set out on an endeavor that requires steadfast determination, and a will to succeed.

In the Fáfnismál, one of the poems in the Poetic Edda, the havoc-wreaking dragon Fafnir attributes much of his apparent invincibility to his use of the Helm of Awe:

The Helm of Awe
I wore before the sons of men
In defense of my treasure;
Amongst all, I alone was strong,
I thought to myself,
For I found no power a match for my own.[1]

What is Pyrography?

Pyrography or pyrogravure is the free handed art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning.

The term means "writing with fire", from the Greek pyr (fire) and graphos (writing).[2] It can be practiced using specialized modern pyrography tools, or using a metal implement heated in a fire, or even sunlight concentrated with a magnifying lens. "Pyrography dates from the 17th century and reached its highest standard in the 19th century. In its crude form it is pokerwork.

_{source: Wikipedia}

_{My pyrography machine with a shading nib attached to the 1st pen at high temperature to illustrate how hot the nibs get!}

For me, Pyrography is a fantastic meditative aid to igniting creativity.

The process of transferring a design to wood using carbon paper along with the careful application of heat in the main burn, refines focus and sharpens your thought process.

In the final steps of shading and detailing I find a quiet place, where ideas for stories are born, and realization about characters in my writing work are often resolved.

When added to the final satisfaction of the finished piece of art, the whole process of pyrography can be a profoundly grounding experience.

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Art Burned on Wood

<sub>Art burn with blank round next to it for perspective.
 

A close-up.</sub>

Thanks for reading.

References:

[1] The Poetic Edda.

All art in displayed in this post is my own, © @raj808 all rights reserved. Designs for title image are my own, created using gimp photo editor.

If you have enjoyed this post, please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content.

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