By Anand Holla
Name: Wissam al-Baghdadi
Nationality: Iraqi
Location: Al Sindan Pyrography, Off Main street, Souq Waqif
What do you do?
To me, art is boundless. I am an artist who likes to work with multiple mediums. I do pyrography which includes wood-burning and leather-burning (art of decorating or drawing images on wood or leather with burn marks using the heat generated from an electric pen), charcoal drawings, and metal art. I am the only artist here who does these works.
What are your specialties?
Be it charcoal works or leather-burning, customers come with all kinds of requests and hand me the image of what they want me to etch out for them. So my specialty is to meet all sorts of orders. I always first trace out the image using a pencil because in pyrography, there’s absolutely no margin for error. If I make a mistake while burning wood or leather, I can’t correct it. I have to throw that piece and start all over again.
Where do you source your goods from?
I get them mostly from Yemen and Iraq. The leather I use is sheep and cow leather, whereas the woods are of various kinds. Mostly, I get some American wood from Jarir Bookstore. But I also use olive wood to write names using calligraphy.
Who are your customers?
Mostly Europeans as they usually are connoisseurs of good art. Some of my customers are Arabs, too. Most visitors to the Souq passing by, stop at my shop and compliment my works. Occasionally, I come across some gentleman who will say my art is not that good and that he knows of other artists who do these works better. I tell him, no problem, go ahead and buy from that artist.
What kind of customers do you find annoying?
While placing an order, some customers give me a poor quality image. My artistry depends majorly on details. So if I can’t see the finer nuances of the image clearly, I can’t produce good art. Most Europeans though understand the need to provide me with high-resolution images. If I am happy with the quality of the photo, I can draw
anything.
Is there any medium you prefer?
All mediums have their own charms. If I am in a good mood, I work on leather, also because it is pretty complex work. If I want to rest or relax, I take up pencil drawings. Sometimes, I am not in the mood for anything. So I catch a quick break and return. Leather-burning can take anything from three hours to four days, while wood-burning once took me 20 days to complete.
If it wasn’t for this job, what would you have been doing?
I am also a musician – I play oud – and a graphic designer, and I was also a teacher back in Baghdad. So I can always get back to doing any of those jobs. For now though, I love my work. It keeps me happy.