We are excited to have our own Elyssa Cichy as our featured artist for the month of May.
We asked her a few questions to get a little more insight on her process.
How would you describe what you make?
My art is a combination of simplistic acrylic backgrounds, and detailed woodburnings of the intricate intersections of leaves and branches and twigs and roots. I try to capture the feeling of the rest of the world fading and blurring, while you take a moment to focus on the beauty of little pieces of nature.
Can you tell us about your favorite piece in the current collection?
I love the Cherry Blossom pieces. They were my first pieces that included flowers and colors in the focus of the piece. Before them, my wood burning had always been wood grain and leaf veins, so making these delicate little flowers was so exciting and new. Plus, they’re just pretty. I don’t know anyone who can see a cherry blossom tree in the Spring, and not take a second to enjoy the sight.
If you could collaborate with anyone (living or not), who would it be and why?
Scott Alexander is a very talented wood turner in Pennsylvania who makes the most gorgeous hollow forms. The way that he works the wood until it looks almost fluid is incredible. I would love to get my hands on a set of them to woodburn!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
To walk away from each piece and look again another day before deciding that it’s done. I tend to get overly excited when I’m close to done with a piece, and then regret rushing it.
Can you describe your favorite part of the process in your work?
My work has a lot of small steps, and I think the most exciting one is peeling the tape that I’ve cut in the shape of whatever I will be wood burning, after I’ve painted the background. It’s like my first glimpse of how the whole piece is going to look.
When you are in the studio, what are you listening to?
Anything I can sing along with! Lately it’s been Krewella and Au Revior Simone, but I always fall back on The Decmberists, Missy Higgins, Sarah McLachlan, Depechemode and Tori Amos.
What is your most treasured handmade possession?
I have a set of wooden cabinets, made by my grandfather. We call them the TC cabinets because, as he was staining them, my mom’s cat, TC, walked across the tops of them leaving her paw prints behind forever.