DOWAGIAC — When Deborah Terry created her first pyrography piece, she walked past it more than 100 times, in disbelief that she had created what was staring back at her.

In Greek, pyrography, means “writing in fire,” which mimics Terry’s process of burning images into wood using a wire burner.

Although Terry has been practicing wood burning since 2012, she is stepping into a new light and honoring her fiancé, who died in September, by attending craft shows as a tribute to him.

The age-old process of decorating wood and other materials with burn marks, initially caught Terry’s attention at a summer camp in sixth grade.

It was years later that Terry was encouraged by her fiancé to buy a simple burner kit after she was gifted some wood pieces for Christmas. As burners have become more mainstream, they are also more
affordable, Terry said, which aided in her introduction to the craft.

She started off with a beginner kit and doing small outline pieces. She eventually worked her way up to using a wire burner in her third year of wood burning. 

“I wanted to be extremely comfortable before I ventured towards that way,” she said. “It worked out great. I think it even worked out better than if I had started out with a wire burner.”

As Terry brought her pieces to several area farmer’s markets, she had to put attending craft shows on the back burner as she became her fiancé’s primary caregiver several years ago, during his struggles with diabetes.

Before Terry’s fiancé passed, the couple had discussed taking her pyrography to arts and craft shows where Terry could be surrounded by like-minded artists and creators.

Earlier this month, Terry attended her first craft show solo, bringing her pieces to Theta Mu’s 22nd annual arts and craft show hosted at Dowagiac Middle School.

“I liked it,” Terry said. “I sold four pieces. I got to talk to a lot of people.”

After gaining feedback from the Dowagiac show, Terry was inspired to create more Christmas themed pieces and has already purchased wooden ornaments to start wood burning her designs into. Terry, a 1989 graduate of Dowagiac Union High School, also received requests to create more Dowagiac Chieftain inspired pieces. While her fiancé was alive, Terry recalled creating a wood piece with the original Chieftain head and selling it to a woman with a whole wall dedicated
to Dowagiac.

“My fiancé graduated in ’89, and we had the old Chieftain head,” she said. “We tend to like that one better. It was something we grew up with.”

Terry’s pieces usually take anywhere from seven to 12 days to complete, depending on the intricacy of the burn and the size of the wood piece.

“If it’s a lot of outlining, it usually takes me a couple of days to get the burn in,” she said. “Then I put sealant on it, depending on whether it’s for indoor or outdoor, and that takes a couple of days.”

She enjoys using a mixture of wood, but gravitates towards poplar and soft maple. Sometimes, she will visit Johnson’s Workbench, a lumber store in South Bend and can have a field day selecting different types of wood.

The most rewarding part for Terry is seeing the look on someone’s face after one of her pieces turns out the way she wants.

“I am overwhelmed with joy because I can’t wait for them to see it,” Terry said. “I constantly have to tell myself, ‘Well to wait for it to dry.’ I’ve got to tell myself to be patient because I can’t wait to see their face. Once I see their face, I’m like on the verge of tears.”

Burning with excitement, Terry is already set to attend Decatur’s 37th annual arts and craft show and a show in Granger.

“I love anything wood, and I love anything homemade,” she said of her appreciation for homemade crafts. “To me, that’s better than any gift you could buy in the store.”

As Terry plans to attend more shows, she hopes to erase some of the fears holding people back from trying “writing in fire.”

“[Most people] think it’s going to be way too hard,” She said. “At first, you just have to get a feel for it. You have to know your wood, and you have to start where its comfortable for you.”