In the Stolen Hours - Still Burning Billy Bob

Good morning, friend —

Today is the day before the spring equinox. The light is changing. Something is stirring.

Late last night, after the workday was done and the house was quiet, I approached my workbench.

There's a piece there that's been living on my easel for a while now — a portrait of Billy Bob Thornton, still a work in progress. I pick up the burning when the mood strikes me: some evenings after Jeff's gone to bed, sometimes on a weekend afternoon between loads of laundry. It's one of several projects I'm cycling through right now— because that's just how I work. Different moods call for different pieces.

Pyrography is a meditation practice for me.

The burning pen moves slowly across the grain, and personalities emerge — gradually, patiently, line by line. Wood burning art refuses to be rushed. The wood decides how fast you can go. Every mark is permanent. You learn, pretty quickly, to be present and patient, or you'll ruin it.

There's something satisfying about the creative process — about the way that making art takes time, and passion — and facilitates working through thoughts and feelings as I go. I guess that's one of the reasons I keep coming back to it. Because here I am, after a full day of regular life, burning lines into wood by lamplight, coaxing each personality from the depths of the piece, with no particular deadline and no paycheck.

And honestly? Maybe that's exactly the point.

If you've ever felt like you needed to justify the time you spend making things — to explain why you knit, or sketch, or carve, or sew, or throw pots, or write poems no one reads — this creativity post is for you.

Making something slowly, in the stolen hours, in a world that's moving far too fast — that's a meaningful act.

👉 Come see more of my pyrography and other art projects in My Gallery.

I'd genuinely love to hear from you: what are you making right now? Finished or not. Practical or not. Just for you or for someone else. Tell me about it — reply to this email: tracy@tracypartridgejohnson.com or connect with me on Facebook.

Happy almost-equinox. I hope you make something tonight.

Tracy