Monday, May 20, 2024

Woodburning Project- Part 1


I just can't leave things alone.  When I see something that has a blank canvas, I want to put something on the canvas.  I mean that metaphorically.  I don't paint.  What I am referring to is the idea that if I own something that even has a remote possibility of having a fishing theme incorporated into it, I'm going to probably give it a shot.  I've slapped stickers on lunch boxes, my fly tying table, and truck.  I've made fishing collages and hung them in my house.  I've taken scrap wood and made it into something that commemorates memorable fish that I have caught.  So when I recently bought a cheap picnic table for my backyard, I saw a blank canvas that needed something...fishy.

As I stated, I can't paint.  I also can't draw freehand.  In other words, I have no artistic ability.  What I can do, is use technology to make up for my shortcomings, run some rudimentary power tools, and burn wood with a torch.  I have completed two steps to this project with more to come.  Here's what I have done so far.

1. Using a digital projector at my school, I projected an outline of a big brown trout onto a piece of plywood.  I then traced out the image.
2. I cut the image out with a jigsaw.  I used a plunge cut with the saw so that I would end up with a cast as well as a mold of the fish.  I wanted to avoid drill holes or having to make an entry cut and I have to say, I think it turned out pretty good.

More to come tomorrow, hopefully!  I will readily admit that this is one big experiment because I can't find anything online that outlines what I am attempting.  I'm not saying I'm some sort of groundbreaking pioneer or anything.  More than likely, I just can't use the right search terms.  While I am highly optimistic about how the next part turns out, I also know that the next steps could crash...and BURN!  (That's foreshadowing).



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