My name is Jenna Forest and I am a wood burning artist from the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. My love of pyrography began in 2011 when I traveled to Antarctica as a carpenter for The National Science Foundation. While working in McMurdo Station’s wood shop, I discovered a box of discarded tools. Within the tangle of chords and broken parts was an old soldering iron. Intrigued, and inspired by a natural urge to create, I began practicing the art of wood burning in my spare time.

After working seasonally on “the ice” for nearly ten years--all the while utilizing pyrography as both an emotional and creative outlet--I migrated back to the mountains of Montana. Instead of penguins, glaciers, and ice bergs, my art now centers around the natural beauty of the west and its wild inhabitants. From snow-crowned mountains, meandering rivers, and flourishing forests, to untamed creatures, and harmonious humans at play.

Color, through the use of hand-mixed stains, acrylics, and/or watercolors are used for emphasis and depth. The aim is to capture the intentions of my mind without detracting from the beauty of the wood. Art that is naturally raw, yet refined by purposeful design. My hope is that my work emanates a certain amount of charisma and magnetism. The same curious and adventurous spirit that has tugged at the feet of so many travelers before me, drawing them past personal borders and towards new horizons. Go south, young woman, go south.

For inquiries about commissions please email me at: truesouthwooddesigns@gmail.com

Keep living life by the compass. It will take you to great places.

-j.