Unique artisan crafted wooden maps that feature specific locations throughout the country
(By Debbie Eisele, Published in Gift Shop Plus)
Fire & Pine is the maker of 100% American made home décor artwork and it specializes in artistically crafted wooden maps. All the unique designs are created by Fire & Pine and include historical maps from locations around the country. Ryan Lanzel, executive vice president and creative director, shared information on the business and its offerings.
How did you come up with the name Fire & Pine?
Ryan Lanzel: The process for creating our artwork is literally burning artwork into wood. When we began, we sourced a variety of species of lumber and decided eastern white pine was best suited for our process, given the species is relatively soft, has an interesting grain profile and is available somewhat locally. We wanted a name that could grow with the company when we expand our product line and a name that essentially described what we do in a creative and appealing way.
How long have you been in business?
RL: Fire & Pine began in 2017 when we purchased a laser machine in order to engineer various displays for a photography company. From there we played around with some alternative uses for the laser and, after a few weeks of brainstorming and trial and error, we created a local map of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and engraved it into medium-density fibreboard (MDF). The response was tremendous and we knew immediately that we had our next big idea!
What are some of your original pieces from when you first started?
RL: The first piece we ever made was the map of Hilton Head Island in MDF. From there we decided we needed a more solid substrate. We custom-coded a cartography program to create unique maps in-house from scratch, which gave us the flexibility to cover any location and aesthetic. We began with all local maps of Hilton Head, Bluffton, Beaufort, and Savannah where we would sell them at local fairs and our own brick-and-mortar locations in the area.
You create a lot of pieces using U.S. patents. Where do you get these?
RL: Published U.S. patent documents are not usually subject to copyright so the text and drawings included in the patents are typically public domain. There are a lot of good sources for patent illustrations, although we typically work through Google patents.