pyrography – Astrolabe Arts

Petroglyphs and Crop Circles Staff

Some of my favorite subjects to work with are ancient petroglyphs and cave art. Though I will say some of the small curves and circles were a bit challenging. For this large 68” tall sumac staff I took ancient rock carvings and paintings from around the world and burned them along its length. Most of the glyphs are from various ancient cultures from the vastness of North America. I’ve also included a few crop circles since they fit the overall aesthetic and carry the same enigmatic aura as ancient cave art. While anthropologists may have discerned the meaning of some symbols, most remain a mystery shrouded in time. I also embedded a deep blue-green stone in one of the natural knots of the wood. Then after allowing the wood burning and stone to set I coated the the piece in several layers of boiled linseed oil for protection from the elements.

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September 12, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: ancient, Artwork, cave art, ceremonial, crop circle, crop circles, handmade, petroglyph, petroglyphs, pyrography, rock art, staff, stick, wood burning Leave a comment

Second Star Trek Hiking Stick

Just a fun fan art piece for Star Trek. I wasn’t sure what to make with this piece since it’s relatively thin thus making it harder to display something with any detail, but eventually I landed on a Star Trek combadge and colored bands representing the different areas of expertise onboard a starship. The iconic words “To Boldly Go” are also wood burned onto the side. It’s made of sumac wood, stands at 57 inches, and has a coat of sealant to protect the ink and a coating of boiled linseed oil to protect the wood.

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July 18, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: Artwork, com badge, combadge, handmade, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, next generation, pyrography, staff, star trek, stick, tng, to boldly go, walking, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

King Ezekiel Hiking Staff

King Ezekiel is one of my favorite characters on “The Walking Dead” and recently the idea came to me to place some of his most iconic quotes on a large walking staff. I chose “And yet I smile” followed by“Drink from the well, replenish the well” on one side and “We will mine glory from the rock of struggle this day” on the reverse in stylized lettering. Above the quotes are a leather rawhide hand grip accented by a large bird feather. At the top of the staff, both sides depict a crown, sword, and bird feather in continuing with the same source of inspiration, but all aspects of the piece serve it well interdependently of their source. The staff itself is made of maple wood, stands at 66.5 inches, is finely sanded, and coated in boiled linseed oil for protection from the elements.

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July 17, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: crown, handmade, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, king, king Ezekiel, kingly, pyrography, regal, staff, walking, walking dead, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

Flowers and Vine Hiking Stick

I’m actually quite happy with how this turned out.

I had some issues with how the wood burning initially looked, I had paint smudging issues, I had a second round of paint smudging issues when the sealant I use to keep the paint from smudging, unbeknownst to me, made the paint wet – and this smudgeable again, but with some extra sanding and patience I was able to overcome those issues.

This is the second flowers and vine hiking stick I’ve made, but I created more variety within the flowers both in shape and color. It’s made from a piece of sumac wood -one of my favorite woods to work with and very underrated- which stands at 60.5”, or just a half-inch over 5′. The flowers and vine were created with a wood burner and filled in with paint pens. I then applied two coats of spray sealer to protect both the wood and the paint. Finally I gave it a coat of boiled linseed oil for final layer of protection and polished sheen.

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May 13, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: art, flowers, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, nature, pyrography, vines, wood burning Leave a comment

Dinosaur Fossil Hiking Stick

Dinosaurs are always fun to work with!

I believe this is my third fossil staff, but it has a slightly different style than the first two as I’m working with a new pyrography machine. On the previous iterations the fossils came out solid black rather than outlines and although I like the way it came out, I’ll probably try some of the other tips on the new machine to replicate the previous style.

This is another piece made of sumac wood which is great to work with: it grows fast, has an almost ivory like color and texture, is surprisingly sturdy, but soft which makes lets the wood burner cut through like butter. The height comes to just under 52″ and it depicts the fossilized skeletons of three dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex, Edmontosaurus, and Stegosaurus from top to bottom. The staff itself is sanded smooth – made easier by the type of wood- and varnished with boiled linseed oil for a deeper sheen and protection from the elements.

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October 6, 2023 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: dinosaur, dinosaurs, edmontosaurus, fossil, hiking, hiking cane, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, rex, stegosaurus, t rex, tyrannosaurus, wood burning Leave a comment

Ancient Egyptian Gods Staff

I’ve been wanting to try to make this one for a while now and it came out pretty good. There’s a few processes and tecniques I might do different next time, but overall I’m very happy with the result. It’s fairly tall for a staff standing at 67″. The staff itself is made of semi-rough oak and the pyrography depicts images of 5 Ancient Egyptian deities along with various hieroglyphic motifs. The gods from top to bottom are Ra, Thoth, Anubis, Sobek, and Hathor. On the top of the staff is a band of Djed pillars aside star glyphs, the bottom banding depicts the Ankh, Wejda, Seneb (an Egyptian blessing meaning Life, Prosperity and Health) above the Djed, Nefer, and the Feather of Ma’at, with the connotations of Strength, Beauty, and Divine Justice. Below those six hieroglyphics is a field of stars – a sacred realm of the gods. The wood is also coated with boiled linseed oil for protection from the elements. Perfect for ceremonial purposes or just hiking through the forest!

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September 29, 2023 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: ancient Egyptian, ankh, Anubis, Artwork, Egyptian gods, handmade, Hathor, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, Ra, Sobek, staff, Thoth, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

New Viking Serpent Staff

Starting to return to wood burning by trying out my new pyrography machine and made this wonderful piece!

It displays a textured Viking serpent which historically had multivalent meanings, both positive and negative depending on context. The serpent is coiled around a 5’5″ piece of strong Rhode Island maple wood without being burdened by too much weight. The surface is smooth to the touch and finished off with a varnish of boiled linseed oil.

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August 17, 2023August 17, 2023 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: Artwork, handmade, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, serpent, staff, Viking, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

Viking Serpent Elder Futhark Staff

This staff depicts a tendriled Viking serpent coiled all the way up and down the length of the staff with the set of Elder Futhark runes inscribed within its body. It stands at just shy of 63.5″ and is made of sumac wood which is both lightweight and sturdy. It is also coated with boiled linseed oil for some protection against the elements.

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September 17, 2021July 15, 2021 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: druid, elder futhark, futhark, handmade, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, runes, staff, Viking, walking staff, walking stick, wizard staff, wood burning Leave a comment

Three Dragons Hiking Staff

It took a lot to finally get the dragons looking how I wanted them to look. Part of me wanted to color them, but at the same time I didn’t want to wash out any of the detail from the wood burner. So I decided to keep it simpler this time.

As you can see, this staff depicts three winged dragons, one large and two smaller which were created using a wood burner. The staff stands at 62.5″ and is made of maple wood. There’s is also a coating of boiled linseed oil to protect the wood from the elements.

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August 20, 2021July 15, 2021 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: dragon, dragons, fantasy, handmade, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

Star Trek Klingon Empire Hiking Staff

I’ve always enjoyed sci-fi, but it’s only been within the last few years that I actually sat down to watch all of the various Trek shows – though I still have to watch most of the movies. Between that and the constant Trek memes appearing on my timeline I felt inspired to make a set of three themed staves.

This is the 3rd and perhaps my favorite of the three. This staff shows the icon symbolizing the Klingon Empire from Star Trek along with “Qapla” written on both sides of the staff, one in English and one in the Klingon script. The image and lettering were created with wood burning and paint pens. The staff itself is made of maple wood and stands at just shy of 53″. It has a coating of clear acrylic sealer and boiled linseed oil to protect the image and the wood.

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July 30, 2021July 15, 2021 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: handmade, hiking staff, hiking stick, klingon, klingon empire, pyrography, qapla, star trek, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment