“Amber produced beautiful Pyrography designs as well as completing all the oiling and finishing. She took it on herself to gather the finished pieces and oiled them brilliantly, she followed instructions on not using too much oil and helped me to get them completed, which was fantastic.” 

Feedback from Ruth Wheeler

The workshop lasted from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. 

At the start of the workshop, Ruth explained to us how the Pyrography machines worked and how you would use them to create different patterns on the wood. In the morning I experimented with the pyrography. I created a mandala pattern and experimented with using the pyrography machine to write words. I found it quite difficult as if you pressed down too hard it would create an almost blot on your piece of wood, another thing that I found difficult is that the rings in the wood would make it more difficult to move the pyrography machine across your piece of wood. I found this part of the workshop quite interesting but also quite frustrating. I also remember it being smoky due to the pyrography creating smoke from burning the wood the doors and windows were open but it was right in front of your face so there wasn’t much escaping it.

In the afternoon I helped oil the pieces as the initiative for the workshop was that the pieces that were created would be going into the new sensory garden that the college had created to help create a calm space for the environment in college as well, so I was oiling them to make sure that they were almost sealed and the pyrography was not as exposed to the elements as it would be without. I remember Ruth explaining to me that you should only be putting on a thin coat of oil to make sure that it wouldn’t clump on top, and make sure the design was still visible when it dried. I enjoyed this part of the process more as it was methodical and nice to see everyone’s designs.