Burnt Offerings | Ngaire Kearney

Hi, my name is Ngaire and live in the beautiful Wairarapa, of NZ. I have two gorgeous daughters with a wonderful husband and a loving extended family who have all encouraged me to take my “art” to the next level. I have always been creative, starting my working career doing a hairdressing apprenticeship and becoming a fully qualified hairdresser. From there my roles were mainly administration based, so I would be creative at home. When I became pregnant with our first daughter, I had to give up work very early in the pregnancy due to complications. I am not very good just sitting around and at the time my husband was looking into doing wood turning as a hobby. We were in the wood turning shop when I spied a poker machine, I brought it and I have never looked back. A poker machine is essentially a hot wire that I use to burn into the wood. My husband brought me a pneumatic pencil grinder as a birthday present, which I use to etch, mirror, glass and stone. I love the effect you can achieve but not the noise and dust, but it is worth it. There are many times when I have just finished a piece and the glass will crack!!! I use a diamond tip with the pencil and this is connected to a compressor, making the diamond tip spin very fast. 90% of the pieces I work on are second hand finds, which means you won’t find them elsewhere and I can’t create another one. When you gift or own a Burnt Offering piece, you truly have a unique one of a kind artwork. I especially like working on commissions. Creating a very personal piece, makes me very happy and I get a thrill out of people’s reaction to what I created for them. In most cases I need to source the piece to work on for the commission, but I am happy to work on a piece you own, I then create a design for your approval before I burn or etch. Sending the first photos of the finished piece, I hold my breath until I hear the customer loves it. I can then relax and enjoy the warm glow of having achieved an appreciated artwork.