Roberts grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, always living in and around the New England area. He currently lives in Lowell, Massachusetts. His focus in the art industry is specifically pyrography (wood burning). Currently, Roberts only does pyrography as a freelancer. His full-time job is working on assembling implants for specific knee and hip surgeries. However, this small side business has taken off and Roberts is finding that he needs more time to keep up with his continuous orders. “Once the value of my work reflects the amount of time I put into each piece will be when I can turn this small side business into a full-time business,” said Roberts. Roberts discovered pyrography out of pure boredom. He and his friend had absolutely nothing to do one day, so they took a trip to a nearby Michael’s Craft store and bought $8 wood burning kits and they created artwork of their dogs. This experiment led to a passion that Roberts loves and never looked back. Roberts can create a variety of images when it comes to pyrography, but his heart lies with animals, particularly dogs. His ambition is to someday promote local animal rescues and adoptions with his talent in wood burning. In terms of his process, it usually begins with a pencil outline of the basic shapes and from there he builds the animal or object one fur (or line) at a time. The entire process takes roughly 8-12 hours and larger projects can sometimes take 30 hours to complete. His in-depth process allows for a greater effect in terms of the realistic outcome of the piece and an easy solution should any errors occur. Roberts piece of advice for beginners looking to start in pyrography is that you can always chip out a piece of burnt wood or sand it down to make it lighter. From years of experience he has found this trick to be much more forgiving.
Roberts states that, “You have to dedicate yourself to your field, and understand that once you develop, you can only get better. The artist you are now isn’t the one you’ll be forever.” He also emphasizes that people need to remember no matter what “medium, style, or picture you are creating, you should always be able to see a finished piece, and also see a part of yourself in it.” Roberts, along with other artists, often create their masterpieces when they create pieces outside their own comfort zone. He said his lion dresser, when asked about his favorite piece, was able to push him into thinking about larger projects. He never saw it as just a beat down old dresser but instead as a work of art. Roberts’ biggest success in the art industry was his artwork being displayed at the Van Der Plas Gallery in New York this past November. People outside of New England came to see his work and thus reconfirmed this passion could turn into something much more than a side hustle. He sees an opportunity with pyrography because he feels it is truly a way to create something special and unique. “Part of the art world is just having something that separates your work from others,” Roberts states. One of his explanations for being in the art industry is to bring life to the pieces of art, and not only give people something valuable, but something they can hold onto forever. “Most of what I do is in memory of a pet, and it makes a big impact when they can look at the work I’ve done and say it brings their pet back into their life.” While Roberts continues to grow his small business, he still has his dream projects that he hopes to one day create as well. In the future, he would love the opportunity to create a mural at a school so he can inspire a large audience on a daily basis. Roberts continues to create noise around his work and is trying to get his “name” out there so, like many artists, he can start making a living off his true passion.
Taylor Smith
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