Early Pyro

A showcase of early burning.

Buckles

These two buckles were the second and third ones ever made.
The 'hand burned' is pretty straightforward to understand, but
the VSS is in homage to the Varsity Sports Store where I work.
As you can see, the first two images were taken just after the
burning was done, and the last is after stain and finish were applied.

Next, I decided to experiment with acrylic paints, buckles for people I knew, and more complex designs.

Shown here are unfinished versions of four soon-to-be buckles.
Three of these will be discussed in the next photo, but the JoJo
Gun buckle is for a friend's band, called... JoJo Gun and the Bullets.

As you can see, I'm a fan of Toronto sports teams! Good or bad,
I cheer for them every year! While the 'LEAFS' was fairly easy,
the Jays design was more challenging and detailed. I was happy
with how it turned out! (and people often ask me where I got it
from :P) My friend Alex and I are in a band called ALPHABAND!

River City is taken from a sweet video game called River City
Ransom, and was done on Basswood, and acrylic paint was used
as the colour. The 'BOOKSTARS' buckle was done on an African
wood called Bubinga, and is one of the first buckles done on a
wood that I didn't need to stain, as the natural colour is quite nice.
Also, if you don't know the Bookstars, you don't know softball!

My confidence was growing, and I took this opportunity to give to a charity golf tournament that I wasn't able to attend this year. My old friend Dave Waller, passed away in 2008, and each year that passes is a year that is without an amazing person. In lieu of attending, I donated a belt buckle and cufflinks set for their annual fundraising raffle. I was happy to give and I can only hope that the set raised some funds for their causes!

These were my first cufflinks! Miss you, Dave! These were
burned on Bubinga, and finished with a semi-gloss clear coat.

Around this time I attended TCAF here in the City. It was amazing just walking around seeing all the talented comics artists! I was tasked to meet a few of my GF's favourite webcomics while I was there, which was pretty fun, but a little nerve racking for this guy being as shy as I am sometimes.

One of the artists was the talented Erika Moen (of Dar, and Bucko fame to name just two). After a signing mix-up, in which the wrong name was written in one of her books (totally my fault), I came back on day two of the festival and brought her her very own Bucko! belt buckle! (a crowning achievement on my part, I thought). She was wonderfully appreciative, and told me that she'd link my Etsy shop in her blog, which she did! Amazing! Now here's my chance to repay the favour, although she may have a few more blog readers than I do at this point... just a few. :P

Bucko, was burned on Bubinga, has some red acrylic paint
and was finished with a clear matte spray.

Pins

I didn't make too many during this time period, but I'll show you them anyways!

Unstained versions of a Leafs pin and some specs pins. The
writing on the specs pin is 'They're real, and they're SPEC-tacular!'
The 'DAVE' buckle was made for my Bro. 

This dude was made before a friend and I went to a Leafs game
this past season... it didn't help them make the playoffs unfortunately.
An azure coloured stain was applied, and a white acrylic was used inside
the leaf.

Okay! That's enough of the early pyro section. :) Next up, my foray into Etsy!

Best,

Adam Grant

Man of Craft