About the website
The Woodburner website was started on July 4, 1999. It was
started by myself, Ralph, in order to share my love of this wonderful artform.
The Woodburner is a place where people can come to view the artwork of others, display
some of their own, and to chat with others who work and play in pyrography!
Pyrography is different things to different people, so this
will be a real challenge.
Only time will tell how this website will evolve. It is people like you, the visitors
to The Woodburner, that will determine the path it will take. I am sure that whatever
happens, it won't be dull.
The plan is to offer more extensive instruction on this site, using both
my knowledge of this artform, and the knowledge skills of others willing
to share with others. We are still considering what it should entail, and
what form it should take. You have grown over the years with The Woodburner,
now there is a place where you can continue to grow. Come along for the ride,
and let's see where this takes us.
A Little About Me
Well, let's see. I was born and raised in Illinois, about 25 miles west of
Chicago. At the time it was farm country, corn and wheat, and I enjoyed growing
up there. Now, I don't even recognize it when I go home. Too built up.
I am now living outside Tucson, Arizona, with my wife and one or two of our
daughters (my step-daughters, although they insist they are my daughters),
depending upon who is living at home this week. They are both in college,
and are quite wonderful girls! I have also lived for a time in New Jersey,
Alabama, Italy, and California.
I work as an engineer for a large company. I started out as electrical, but
now, after 23 years, I have responsibility for many types of projects involving
electrical, mechanical, optical, materials, etc. I have always loved computers,
my first computer being a TI/94 with an audio tape player that I connected
as a storage device to save the programs that I wrote. This was back in the
'old days', prior to Microsoft and PCs.
I have traveled extensively with my job, both in the US and overseas. I have
been in most US states, most European countries, several middle east countries,
South America, and Canada. I hope some day to make it to Australia.
I estimate that I have spent at least 6 years of the last 30 overseas. And
I still travel, so if you can't reach me via email, I may not be around. If
I am around, I will answer all email within a day or two.
My degree is in Information Systems, so running a website is natural. I do
all of the work on this site myself, with the exception of creating the patterns,
which is done by my wife Deborah ( and
please don't call her Debbie
:) ). She is better at using the graphics programs than I am. So, we make
a good team.
I started pyrography back in 1983, if memory serves me correctly. I fell in
love with it immediately. I am not an artist, and am not that good at it,
but I find that it is relaxing. I plan to do much more of this art after I
retire, which isn't that far off.
Contact Information
Name: Ralph Dulaney
Email: Ralph@woodburner.com
(Write, just to say 'Hi'!)
If you need to speak with me on the telephone, send me an email with your
telephone number, the best time to call, and your time zone (US and Canada),
and I will give you a call.