Question 1

What is pyrography?

Accepted Answer

Pyrography is what you get when you burn a piece of wood but do it intentionally and artistically. I use a special tool—a cross between a pen and a branding iron—to burn designs on wood.

Question 2

Why do you draw skulls and bones?

Accepted Answer

My work features the concept of memento mori, often presented alongside representations of life: flowers, trees, and other living things. Life and death go hand in hand, which is a special kind of poetry and a lesson we all eventually learn—why not celebrate it?

Question 3

Why would anyone want to put drawings of dead things on their wall?

Accepted Answer

My work isn’t for everyone, which makes sense cause, well, all art is subjective. Believe it or not, there’s a freaky little community of us out there. Some of us never got over our goth phase. Some of us are true crime obsessives and have cultivated an aesthetic based around a love of mystery and the macabre. Some of us feel haunted and need to express that in a healthy way.

Question 4

Are you a self-taught artist?

Accepted Answer

Every artist is self-taught if you think about it. I am also mother-taught by my painter mom, and I have an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Question 5

Your shop has a lot of Celtic-inspired artwork. Are you really Irish?

Accepted Answer

Yep—I am very white. I have Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry and am inspired in different ways by each of these cultures.

Question 6

What’s the meaning of life?

Accepted Answer

That it ends. My work embraces this, but so do my life choices. I (am privileged to be able to) take the risk of creating art full-time because I don’t want to spend my finite life in a stable but bland gig that doesn’t give me a sense of purpose of joy.

Question 7

Where can I find more of your work?

Accepted Answer

At this time, most of my artwork available for purchase can be found in my Etsy shop. I hope to transition fully from Etsy to this site in the near future, but for now, please click the button below to view my Etsy shop.

You can also follow @katyjosstudio on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook to see my latest work, insights into my creative process, and behind the scenes glimpses of my studio.

About the Artist