Our Friday Feature this week is the incredibly talented Elaine from Elaine Buchanan Art. Elaine is a London based freelance artist with a very unique speciality… pyrography. Although she does also create with other mediums, she has become known for her work using the wood-burning technique – creating amazing portraits and emotive pieces.
Let’s get to know more about the creative woman behind the small business…
My first memory of being creative is probably from the age of 7. I drew a picture of the cartoon character Sylvester the cat and I noticed my drawing was quite similar to the character. I was really proud, and also shocked myself as I never really drew before that. As my elder sister set the task for me to draw.
Since the age of 7, I have never really stopped drawing. It’s who I am. We create every day with clothing and hairstyles, but I also incorporate drawing. I look at the world as art and how I can interpret it.
Creativity is definitely food for the soul. If there has ever been a dull moment, art allows time to stop, the mind doesn’t wonder, the hand goes to creating something beautiful. There’s always peace within creating.
I love the joy and peace that art gives. It’s almost as living in your own world, nothing matters when you’re creating, and time moves without noticing, as I can work on my pieces for many hours in a day. Then once the piece is completed, it gives this deep feeling of joy, peace and serenity.
I fell into pyrography, as I only had a small space to work within and pyrography fitted that. I had a piece of wood, it wasn’t messy, it challenged me (as it was an art form I wasn’t used to) but I was liking the craft and the outcome as it slowly started to reveal itself.
I literally started by posting my work on social media and exhibiting, and that brought on a great interest.
I think what many people probably do not understand is that this really takes a lot of hours, days and weeks, depending on the size. My pyrography work can take an hour just building up a small tiny section of the image. It is very therapeutic though.
I have never been suited to graphic design, I’m a very hands on artist and I’m so far removed from the digital world. I know many beautiful things can be created digitally but it just never suited my style. I’m very old fashioned.
My best creative project so far was creating for one of my favourite singers and him loving it and getting to meet him. I am so grateful my art can take me this far.
If I were to win £100k I would build a beautiful art studio near the sea, and also turn it into a class where I could teach and a space to exhibit, so it’s a multifunctional space.
How amazing that Elaine kind of stumbled into pyrography (thank goodness, or the world would be without her unique gift!). We told you she was talented, didn’t we? You should see her portraits of people! No, seriously, you should take a look… to see more of Elaine’s artwork or commission your own piece, head to her Instagram: @elainebuchananart
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