A burning passion for art

When it comes to deciding what they want to be when they grow up, most children - even some adults - go through phases.

First it's a cowboy.

Then an astronaut.

Then they watch the Indiana Jones trilogy and want to become archaeologists.

Reese Townes is a bit of an anomaly. Ever since he was 6 years old, he has known he wanted to be an artist.

Now 37, he has lived that dream for many years. Born and raised in Great Falls, he grew up across the street from the C.M. Russell Museum. He studied at the Art Institute of Dallas, and later was counseled by illustrator Bart Forbes.

"I remember that he was a very talented young guy, and I always try to encourage talented people," Forbes said. "He had quite a bit of talent, and I knew he'd be able to succeed."

Even though art isn't his full-time career (he also works as a sandblaster for Midway Rental), Townes has had success. He has sold work in shows in Texas and Montana and has pieces in private collections in 27 states and seven countries.

Former Montana governor Marc Racicot and actor Kevin Costner each own one of his prints. The late country singer and rodeo champ Chris LeDoux had one as well. Peter Busch of Anheuser-Busch owns an original painting.

Townes focused on painting and drawing for many years. Then, in the early '90s, he picked up yet another medium: wood burning.

Burning wasn't entirely new to him; like many other children, he'd had a burning kit while he was growing up. He can remember watching someone create art on wood when he was a kid.

"In 1991, I just decided to try it," he said.

After he did, Townes was hooked. And although he has continued to paint and draw, burning has become one of his passions.

He enjoys it so much, in fact, that he is trying to build a business around it: Gold Creek Pyrography.

Townes laughed when he talked about that name.

"I've been burning for 15 years, and I just found out two months ago that it actually has a name other than wood burning," he said.

"Pyrography" comes from the Greek words for "fire" and "writing." And "Gold Creek"? That's a nod to one of Townes' other passions: prospecting.

"It's kind of a bygone occupation that helped build this country," he said. "I want to keep that part of our heritage alive."

That's part of the allure of pyrography, he said. Ancient cultures burned images into wood, leather and gourds. Wood burning was popular during the Victorian era, when it was known as "pokerwork," because images were created using a red-hot iron poker.

In addition to this long tradition, though, Townes appreciates burning for its artistic value.

"Wood burning is becoming recognized more as fine art," he said. "I don't think it's a real popular thing. It's becoming more popular. It's coming into its own place as a fine-art medium."

And unlike paintings, typically limited to a canvas, burnings can go virtually anywhere.

"I've had wood rounds in shows," Townes said, "but I always felt there could be a better outlet in cabinets and doors. … It's endless what burnings can be put on."

The wood has to be unvarnished, though, because varnish is toxic when it burns. It can also, Townes said, "leave a gooey mess."

There are also certain woods Townes won't burn on. Like varnish, cedar, redwood and hemlock are toxic to burn.

When the wood is right, though, subject matter is as endless as where the burnings can go.

"As long as there's a photograph, I can do it," Townes said.

Whether he begins with a sketch or a photo, Townes transfers the image to the wood using stencil paper. He then starts burning, drawing the image with an iron heated anywhere from 925 to 2,000 degrees.

He used to scorch his fingers along with the wood but eventually learned not to hold the iron too close to the tip.

That doesn't prevent Townes from creating intricate detail or realistic shading, though.

"I can make antlers look like antlers, with the ridges and nobbies that make up antlers in real life," he said.

Those details are important, since Townes prefers close-up images to sweeping landscapes. Even as a child, he loved drawing portraits more than anything.

When the subject is up close, the picture is more personal and intimate, Townes explained.

"It's got more emotion," he said.

Portraits require patient attention to detail, a trait that is even more important when burning is the medium.

"There's no room for mistakes," Townes said. "Once you put the iron to the wood, there's a mark there and there's no way to take it off. So you've pretty much got to be sure of every mark you put down."

And Townes is sure of every mark. In the 15 years he's been burning, he can only recall making one mistake.

"I had to do a lot of sanding to fix it," he said.

He usually does quite a bit of sanding anyway, trying to make the wood as velvety as possible. Woods with a finer grain, like alder or basswood, are great to work with.

"Alder is really nice to burn on," Townes said. "You can't feel the ridges like you can with fir. It just takes the burning quickly, and the burning is rich when it burns."

By "rich," he means dark. The longer the hot iron touches the wood, the darker the burn will be. And for Townes, darker is better.

"You have to go dark," he said. "You have to have dark areas, and you have to have light areas. You need that contrast.

"Some people burn the wood where it doesn't look dark, but it doesn't look right. It looks cheesy."

Townes charges $125 per hour for his burnings, with a minimum charge time of one hour. So far, it has never taken him longer than eight hours to finish a project.

For more information about Townes' work, call Gold Creek Pyrography at 756-8228 or 261-4694.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.