Blue Angels Tribute

When I finally decided (with the help of FB friends) to do a tribute to Blue Angel number 6 I realized this piece of wood wanted two jets.

My next question was, which two?  6 and another?  Should I even do 6? 

I hope this will be my last burning on oak ever as it is so horrenously horrible to burn on.  The subject I picked tends to give the viewer's eye a feeling of cold hard steel and sharp angles which applied well to the wood in my opinion.  Some of the edges are rough but overall it turned out nicely.


I'm sure some of my Facebook followers and you reader have been wondering why I leave many of my works in an unfinished state.  Do you ever wonder if they are available for sale?  Why yes, actually I do this because my works are often open for personalization and customization.  For instance, if I had sealed this piece already the purchaser would not be able to request that I burn a name or date along the bottom.  My pieces remain in a semi-uncomplete state for this reason. 

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Project Update:  I had a slight complication with the deer feet but I will be working with them and soon tackling the gun rack project.  I hope to find the right piece of wood for it very soon. 

Special Updates

           I know it has been a wait but I am finally ready to reveal the portrait that I have been working on for a month.  And that is only because the portrait has already been given to the intended recipient.  The purpose of my hiding the portrait is because that recipient happened upon my blog as I suspected he might.  Knowing he might come back some week or year I didn't want to ruin the surprise, because the portrait was a portrait of him. 

   It took a bit of guts to do, because humans are a challenge to portray and also because when you give something like this to someone you risk offending them, or ruining their image of you or themselves...depending on how the portrait turned out.  And I know I'm my worst critique- so I'll spare you on what I could have done better. 
           I'm proud to say though that I believe Dr. Seebacher was delighted by his musical cufflinks and the portrait.  My only hope is that the portrait is either kept safe in a musical hall or office or carried with him whereever he goes.  To those of you who know only a little about orchestras and their conductors, this portrait is the embodiment of a good performance.  Good conductors are quite dynamic people, in their expressions and all, so this portrait titled "Make Music With Me" intended to capture the emotion in his face when we finally "Make Music With Me Not In Spite of Me" as he often told us.  The expression is one that only we performers could see and it's one that always made me feel all good inside- because I knew that we'd made him happy. 

         Now, the only thing I am displeased with is the photographs of the art.  I don't believe I got a single one that well enough captured the portrait in it's lifelikness. 

 I loved the way the trophy plate turned out and hope to offer more on my works in the future.   They are fairly expensive but really do make a piece look completed.

Everyone has asked me how long it took me to do this portrait and at best my calculations were somewhere between 30 and 36 hours of burn time.  The Halo portrait now in my Special Edition page is my second work with my new iron.  I feel that with just a little time I will imprive greatly and be able to burn many portraits, although I can't wait to get back to my favorite subject, ...horses.   

I will also mention that a taxidermy project is underway.  I am rehydrating a doe hide and preparing to pickle it along with a buckhide and four feet. 

With the four feet I hope to create a rack and burn a wildlife scene above it.  This will be an exciting pyrography project as I will be on the hunt for the right piece of wood, and I may even go exotic. 

Thanks for coming, please comment, follow on facebook and come back soon.