We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danielle Daniel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Learning a new skill such as wood burning was completely new to me when I started. I have always worked with many different forms of art such as painting, drawing, crafting etc. Taking on wood-burning seemed to be the new art form for me that brought me joy and served as an outlet that I didn’t know I needed. But I did not ever imagine it taking me to this new level. My previous experience with other art mediums gave me a special frame of reference I may not of had otherwise when starting this journey and I think that fed my creativity especially early on. One of the biggest contributors to success for me was putting in the time and effort to practice, not just techniques but practice creating art.
When beginning this journey I was a new mom and had quit my job to stay home full time with our son. I quickly realized I missed having my own outlet and that is when I started wood-burning. Having a small child at the time made it very difficult to dedicate time to this, I had to be very mindful of my time and learn to navigate my life as a new mom and full-time artist. I did not want to waste time with art that was not meaningful and wanted to make sure my clients were always happy with the results. Creating time for art and family has and still is one of my biggest struggles/obstacles and I am constantly trying out different ways to do better.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Dees Burnt Trees is truly a labor of love whether I am creating a custom piece to offering hand made art, decor and jewelry. While the subject matter of my art is varied, this artistic reach allows me to explore all avenues of wood burning and push the limits of my craft. I take a lot of inspiration from nature and fantasy, while mixing genres to create new and unique pieces. My favorite creations include shadow boxes, mushroom themed scenes, and creatures.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal for my work is a journey of self discovery. I have found I’m driven to do this to see what is possible and test the boundaries in my own art pieces. I like to try out new techniques and combine old techniques together to create something different and new.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Stop creating art that you think other people will like, create art that makes you feel satisfied/happy. I had a point with myself where I felt like I was focusing all my energy and time on art work that would satisfy other people and would make others happy. It was creating an unhealthy relationship with art. After a while I became annoyed with what I was making and didn’t want to look at it or showcase it. I was given some advice to go back to the beginning of why I was doing this and look. I took that advice and went to my very old sketchbooks and recreated some of my old art pieces and found that happiness again and started to create for myself. Doing this allowed me to explore more art techniques and really created some forward momentum for my art. It wasn’t until after I made these changes that I found that the more of myself I put into my work, yes, things got a little crazy, but people loved my art even more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.deesburnttrees.com
• Instagram: Deesburnttrees
• Facebook: Dees Burnt Trees