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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021
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‘The Bite,’ by Cathy Johnson.
A lighthouse, carved by Johnson.
Artist finds tranquility
burning fine images on wood
By PATRICK WEBB
For The Astorian
For years, Cathy Johnson had no out-
let for her art.
After a terrible childhood and later
family trauma, she occasionally took
out pencil and paper to draw but a lack
of encouragement stymied creativity and
enthusiasm.
Then, she discovered wood burning.
“I had never done anything with so
much detail,” she said, describing bears,
whales, fi sh, lighthouses and even a sail-
ing ship. “I like to make them as realistic
as possible. It takes a lot of patience. You
have to teach yourself.”
Fueled by the soothing power of
the ocean when she visits Long Beach,
Washington, Johnson hasn’t looked back.
“I love nature. It’s very healing, nature
and animals. It is so freeing to be by the
ocean,” she said.
Johnson began with a $20 tool but
soon invested in top-of-the-line equip-
ment with a razor tip.
Her wood burning art caught the eye
of former school friend Nellie Hux, who
regularly posts scenic and eagle pho-
tography in the “Long Beach Friends of
Facebook” group on Facebook .
The moment Johnson’s art pieces were
posted, positive comments rolled in from
the site’s 16,500 members. A recent post
featuring a lighthouse — then an incom-
plete work in progress — earned 107
likes, plus kudos from Rodney Inman
and Adair Faircloth, who called it “beau-
tiful work.”
Cathy Johnson
but are actually the live edges of the yew.
“You try to make every piece ‘fi t’ the
wood,” Johnson said.
Always learning
F amiliar outlines of Ilwaco light-
houses, bears, birds, whales and otters
appear in her art, which she displays
on her Facebook page, “Smokin’ Wood
Pyrography Art.”
One piece shows the Lady Washing-
ton sailing vessel, with considerable
authentic-looking detail in the rigging.
Like artists in other mediums, John-
son prefers not to repeat subjects.
“I will continue to do lighthouses,”
she said.
Johnson delights in mentioning that
only one spoiled eff ort has ended up on
a discard pile.
“Most pieces you start with a really
light burn. If you make a mistake it is not
a problem,” she said.
While teaching herself, Johnson read
extensively and watched YouTube vid-
eos. She adopted concepts from experts
like Betty Edwards, who have written
about right/left brain artistry.
She researches pictures for inspira-
tion; sometimes people who ask for cus-
tom orders will send an image. One tech-
nique embraced by other artists is to draw
a subject upside down.
“Then you draw it — you see what
you see, not what you want to see,” she
said.
Praise for her talents
Those applauding are not alone. John-
son is approaching 60. Hux has known
her since grade school and t hey grew up
in the same Vancouver neighborhood.
“I’ve always known how artistic
she is by her horse drawings and art-
work through the years being shared at
school,” Hux said.
Hux is a para-educator in Vancou-
ver and a regular Peninsula visitor. After
growing up together, Johnson’s sister
married Hux’s brother.
“I’ve always envied (Johnson’s) abil-
ity to make things so realistic in appear-
ance,” Hux said. “Last year I noticed she
was trying her hand at wood burning and
asked if she thought she could do one
from a picture.”
Works that followed featured a light-
house and a bear. Both impressed Hux.
“She is a true artist with a gift — and
ever so humble,” Hux said.
Moving east
Full-time fun
The success of the art has become so
rewarding that Johnson left her job as
an administrative assistant for Legacy
Health Systems and now considers her-
self a full-time artist. Customers request
pieces and prices may go up to $500.
She says she sometimes sits and draws
for seven hours at a time. A bear with a
salmon took six weeks.
“I just treat it like a job,” she said.
“But it’s a fun job. I know if I am not into
it I have to stop, take a break and get in
the mood. ”
Her technique is called pyrography. It
involves using a burning device, which
some artists call a pen, to imprint the
image on fl at wood. Johnson’s boyfriend,
Bryan, has yew at his 20-acre place in
Olympia, which supplies her art.
TOP: Johnson creates art using wood. ABOVE: An owl, created by Johnson.
“It’s hard to fi nd but it’s a really beau-
tiful wood,” she said.
Johnson employs markings and grain
in the wood, positioning the subject atop
“waves,” for example. W hite edges that
appear on several pieces are not painted
Next for Johnson is a move 300 miles
inland to Tonasket, in central Washington
state, 20 miles from the Canadian bor-
der. There, she plans to live off the grid
at her boyfriend’s and build a solar-pow-
ered cabin with a generator back-up, try-
ing it out next winter before locking into
the idea.
But she pledges to continue her art —
because of the joy it brings to others.
“I like making people happy. The
Long Beach community inspires me,”
she said. “I was always told that I wasn’t
good enough and needed to get better.”
The positive Facebook responses have
warmed her.
“I am my own worst critic, because I
know where the mistakes are,” she said.
“But they are kind of like the pat on the
back I never got … It’s healing and ther-
apeutic. I’m thriving.”
Patrick Webb is a former managing
editor of The Astorian.