Mara is a wood burning artist living in Taos, New Mexico, surrounded by mountains, desert colors, crows, hawks, bunnies, and lizards. The landscape around her shapes the way she sees the world and inspires the nature-focused and southwest inspired artwork she creates.

Her first experience with wood burning happened around age seven, when she sneakily tried it on her wood blocks out of curiosity. She made a few marks but wasn’t quite sure how it worked. She put the wood burner back in the dusty cupboard not knowing how much she would grow to love wood burning. As she grew older, her love for art continued to grow even though she wasn’t the best artist.

In high school, she fell in love with ceramics and created hand-built pottery with cut-outs and platters with stained-glass-style glazes. Her art teacher believed in her deeply and even wrote a recommendation letter for art school. Mara chose to study engineering since that was the “sensible” option to combine art with her problem solving skills. Her favorite engineering classes were CAD and hand-drafting, because they allowed her to draw and design.

Cal Poly Pomona had a Parade Float Building club which gave her a chance to combine art and engineering. She helped to build several floats, by welding large metal sculptures (snakes, skunks, candy, sea creatures, etc.) and designing the hydraulic mechanisms that brought them to life.

After graduation from Cal Poly Pomona, she teamed up with another artist to put on several art shows in a large basement gallery in Downtown Pomona, California. She displayed her ceramics, designed postcards for the shows, and assisted with setting up the shows. She continued to pursue her art while working as a mechanical engineer/project engineer/senior engineering team lead.

Everything shifted four years ago when she bought a small Black Friday wood burner to make 13 Christmas card with a tiny holiday potion bottle on them. The moment the burner touched the wood, something clicked. Mara knew she had finally found the right medium for her artwork. Soon after, she created nine wood burned pieces for an art contest and won. Creating so many pieces in a short time let her really explore all that wood burning had to offer.

As she connected with other wood burning artists online, she began to see how much the community needed a true home. That realization eventually became the foundation of the Wood Burn Society.

Today, Mara creates nature-inspired wood burned art featuring pine branches, geometric patterns, abstract art and simple Norse knots. Wood burning feels spiritual to her. She loves watching a design slowly form on the wood, taking shape one line at a time. Whether she’s creating her own art or building a community for others, Mara feels so much joy when she sees and idea come to life.