The Blazing Owl was founded by nature-inspired artist and candlemaker, Angie Arndt.
The Creative Life.
Angie Arndt, CREATOR
I live in the Sedona red rock country and love being
close to nature and this forever inspiring landscape.
In 2003 I learned the craft of candle carving on Sanibel Island in Florida, utilizing the ‘Cut and Curl’ method, which has been a craft in Germany and Holland for over 100 years.
With no formal training in sculpting, I was apprenticed into the craft and fell in love with the process.
Working with a limited time frame to cut the malleable layers while warm, every new candle was a mini adventure for me to master within 10-15 minutes. The love I had for the craft spoke for itself and every single creation I made over the next 12 years were exclusively live-created within various retail shops.
This offered up a connection with the public, which gave me insight to colors and designs were best received and praised. What’s more special - when watching a candle maker in process, the candles purchased also have a story and experience attached to it.
My pursuits in other creative fields also brought in a sense of confidence to entertain and connect. This included puppeteering in classrooms and for a web series, comedy improv, candle classes, and guiding tours in Sedona.
Now finding my way back to the love of live candle carving, I am honored to join the artists and small businesses of Jerome, Arizona! At The Blazing Owl, I once again exhibit the candle making process, and have introduced demonstrations of my newest passion - also with a temperature based medium: Pyrography!
What is Pyrography?
Using a variety of metal tips for a wood-burning pen, I have been inspired and captivated with burning desert landscapes .
After learning more about the Sonoran desert and its ecology, biology, and geology, I became a naturalist guide for nearly two years. This experience helped my connection to ‘burning’ the landscapes with nuances of this knowledge coming through as I expanded techniques. As I found my way back to the to connecting with the public over the process of creating and sharing art, The Blazing Owl was born.
These days, my goal is to not only host my open studio space to the visitors in Jerome, but also keep an online community with friends and families who had a meaningful experience when visiting the store. I delightfully offer and ship requests for custom work and commissions in both mediums of candle making and wood-burning, and am always happy to simply keep in touch and share updates on the evolution of the business and the art.
A Note About The ‘’Blazing Owl"
🦉
A Note About The ‘’Blazing Owl" 🦉
For anyone who gives HOOT!
So…WHY OWLS? WHY BLAZING?
When I started the business, I began the retail concept with my pyrography art and candle crafting.
Both mediums are temperature sensitive and kinetically work with heat. When thinking of a name that would be worthy of the ‘wickedest town in the west’ in Jerome, AZ… 'blazing' came to mind. My eyes then fell onto an owl figurine which was one of many collected in my household.
And there it was, The Blazing Owl.
Over the years, I had begun to collect quirky, vintage, and unique owls. When I imagined calling making a shop which was owl themed, I found a new OWLtlet of collecting and reselling, where I even sold more than half of my own collection in the first year!