Heather Bradford McCoy

A Gift from Fanghorn

24 x 24 x 29"

Woodburn on Small Pine+Poplar Table

$1200

3D  Third Place November All-Media Exhibition

This piece came from what I imagined a table born directly from a forest would look like: all the leaves, flowers and insects that would inhabit its very nature.

Artist's Statement:

My name is Heather Bradford McCoy and I am a woodburning artist living in the beautiful Trinity Point area of Swoope, Virginia. I use a negative-space wood burning technique on live edge slabs, handmade furniture,  frames & sculpture. I find the process of texturing wood with fire absolutely captivating!  Revealing an image through the reverse process of burning away its background is, in and of itself, incredibly satisfying, BUT, the added juxtaposition of the deeply-textured-negative with the silky-smooth-positive makes for a extremely tactile piece.  These works are meant to be felt as much as seen to get the full scrummy experience. 

As for inspiration, even after many years, I'm still not sure I have any particular message to bring to the world. Mostly I just love a good design that satisfies both my Mind's fascination with pattern and my Soul's Calvin & Hobbes anarchist attitude. Generally the Wild Wood of my imagination provides all I need to trigger a new design with only a dabble of reference help from sources such as old wallpapers, nature identification guides or archeological artifacts. Sometimes though a word or phrase is all it takes to bring the spark. These are the most fun!