Kelly’s heart truly belongs with creating pyrographic art, the art of wood burning. While her favorite canvas is that of the tree fungus or better known artist conk, she is now creating on a variety of wood including west coast red and yellow cedar, hemlock, alder, maple. Kelly is big on the upcycling of materials and is forever collecting discarded wood scraps, root ends and timber bits.
Fungi grow on dead trees even so the prying off of the fungus is done with care so that the tree can carry on with its life cycle. The canvas of these fungus easily mark so are transported with care. One never knows if the fungus will be white, beige, brown or marbled until it is thoroughly dried. Drying time depends on the size of the fungus, anywhere from a few weeks to a year plus. Fungi consist of a cork like layering, with a canvas type surface and bark like backing.
Studying the canvases that I acquire has much influence on the design that is chosen. All imperfections on the chosen canvas whether it be fungus or wood are incorporated into the design.