Wildlife Pyrography
The Art of Drawing with Fire
For centuries, gourds have been used to make vessels, utensils, jewelry and crafts. The artist, Michele O'Malley, uses the organic shapes, textures and patterns of each gourd as a canvas for her unique wildlife art.
Each animal is hand-drawn, hand-burned and color may be added using ink dyes creating a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of Art.
About the Artist
Michele OMalley has had a passion for drawing animals since childhood. She sold her first piece of art, a colored pencil rendering of a Chow Chow dog, to an art teacher at the age of 15. Her original artwork drew attention in high school and was sent to art exhibits in the area. She spent a year in college studying advertising art, then Biology where her study of anatomy has helped her in her renderings. Deciding on a career in medical research instead of art, she has had numerous illustrations published in scientific journals over the years. Now retired, she still enjoys the medium of colored pencil to capture the colors of butterflies and her flock of chickens which she prints on notecards but her passion is burning her wildlife images into the shells of gourds. Each rendering is as absolutely unique as the gourd that is the canvas for her art.