Darren Burrows is an actor, director, author and jewelry artisan, most well-known for his role on the TV hit, “Northern Exposure.”
I spoke with him about engraving and his other artistic endeavors.
Take me through the journey from actor to jewelry artisan. How did that come about?
Wow. Well, I’m not exactly sure how that came about.
Well, I guess, you know what … My wife, one year she got me an engraving class for a birthday present, gun and knife engraving and stuff like that. And I’ve always appreciated that kind of a thing. So, she got me that for my birthday and I really liked it. And so, I guess it’s one of those things, anything you do all the time you get better at, no matter what limited talent you have to begin with.
So you actually started engraving before you started crafting jewelry?
Yeah, and now that I’m talking about it, I remember I was engraving knives and things like that. And I got an email from a young lady, I don’t remember who it was, but she said, “Is that all you do is engrave other people’s stuff or do you ever make your own stuff?” And I took that the wrong way. I thought, “Wow, I feel less than … I’m only engraving other people’s knives.” So I kind of started making jewelry and got a torch and yeah, you can learn about anything on YouTube these days, I guess.
Ha. So, I’ve noticed. I’ve seen your rifle and pistol work. What’s probably your most popular item to engrave? Knives or guns?
I have an FFL, so I do like doing the guns, and it’s pretty easy to send me your gun and get it done. But I guess more people … Not everybody lives in a good state like Missouri or Texas, so I do get more knives.
Where do your designs come from? I really started wondering this after seeing your pirate lock.
Well, when people want me to do something for them, I take the elements that they give me and try to incorporate them into something that makes sense to me, to a greater or lesser degree of success, I suppose.
But when I’m doing my own stuff like that lock, it’s just something like I think that would be really cool. I got ahold of this brass lock and I thought, “Boy, it’s kind of pirate-y looking. Imagine that being on a pirate chest.” And I thought, “Ah, I’ll just put a skull on there.” Yeah, I don’t know. It’s probably like writing. You just sit down and you start writing and then something happens.
Yeah. That’s true.
Isn’t that what they say about writing? Is even if you’re blocked or can’t think of anything, the main thing is you just sit down and start.
You’re exactly right. There’s no such thing as writer’s block. You just start writing.
What’s the most unusual request you’ve ever had so far as engraving goes?
Well, I don’t know. I really like when they [customers] say, “Do what you want.” Those are my favorite ones. And then of course, my last six gun I did was this young lady who competes with the quick draw, and her name for when she’s competing is Dead-eye Daisy. And I guess she’s won some championships and stuff.
And so I thought, well, if she wanted me to do the gun, and she said, “I love your stuff. Just do whatever you want there.” And I said, “Well, do you want something feminine because you’re a girl?” And like that. She said, “Oh, that would be great.” And so I put daisies and stuff on it along with scroll-work and things like that. So kind of how that one worked.
And she liked it?
Oh yeah, she loves it. She loves it. And she says it makes her happy every time she practices.
There you go. Do you make a lot of jewelry for your wife since she’s the one that got you started?
Well, she gets the ones that don’t work out so well. I will frequently make something in her size just in case no one wants it.
She’s a chef, so she doesn’t wear too much jewelry in the kitchen. Nobody wants earrings in their cupcakes or nothing like that.
Young is a Fredericksburg resident and avid outdoorsman whose work appears in the paper, Rock & Vine magazine, and other outdoor publications gayne@gaynecyoung.com.
