Dog Paw Arts embraces the beauty in the ashes
BY JULIA WOLF COURIER SENTINEL What started as a random find on Facebook, turned into a well-known aspect of the art scene in the Chippewa Valley. Rick Johnson is the owner of Dog Paw Arts, which is based in Eau Claire. He creates wood artwork by running electricity through it.
“I spent time researching it and everything,” said Johnson of the technique.
Once he got started making pieces, Johnson says his friend commented she had never seen pieces like that at craft fairs and suggested he go to one.
“We went and it was a big hit,” said Johnson.
Johnson has worked on the pieces seven days a week, for about 12 hours every night, in the three and a half years since.
One of Johnson’s more popular pieces, are hearts with burn lines through them. He says the idea for the hearts came from a lady who caught him at a show and told him the burn lines reminded her of the vessels in a heart, before asking him to make some.
Johnson has also done variations of the heart, where he breaks the JULIA WOLF/COURIER SENTINNEL
Rick Johnson, owner of Dog Paw Arts, began creating art three and a half years ago, after Johnson discovered the wood-burning technique that would become the centerpiece of his work, online.
heart in half, then laces them with wire to mend it.
The process for making the signature burn lines on his artwork can be deadly, so Johnson doesn’t like to share the details. He says the process amounts to electrocuting “You have to watch what you’re doing every minute,” said Johnson. Johnson made the machine used to make the designs in his artwork, where two wires come off the machine and he places one wire on each end of the board. From there, he puts an electrolyte liquid down on the board and flips the switch. “A lot of people think it’s actual wood burning, with, like, a pen-type wood burner,” said Johnson. Johnson says it is possible to control the shape the burning occurs in, but he doesn’t for his pieces. “Wherever you put the liquid, is where it will burn,” said Johnson. For example, Johnson could draw a smiley face. First, the outside circle would burn. Then, he would have to re-adjust the probes for the eyes and the mouth. “Usually, it burns from both ends,” said Johnson. “I do a technique where it burns from one end, to look more like trees.” He puts the top probe on a wet cloth, to short it out. “But, the other one still wants to burn up to it,” said Johnson. He says he has to watch where the water drips so he doesn’t stand in it, and ensure he doesn’t have a metal belt buckle or snap on his pants, because the electricity can jump.
“You don’t get a shock,” said Johnson. “It stops your heart instantly.”
After the wood has been burned, Johnson goes over the wood with a wire brush to clean out the ash.
The next step, is to put any panels in the piece together.
