What started out as a way to pass the time during the stay-at-home orders in the early stages of the covid pandemic has turned into a career venture for Plum native Adam Mahr.
The 2017 Plum graduate, who now makes his home in St. Petersburg, Fla., has turned his combined love of art and sports into a passion on display as a pyrographer, one who creates designs on wood using heated tools or a fine flame.
“Each piece is a challenge,” said Mahr, who has crafted more than a 100 pieces for sports fans all over the country. “You learn something new from each one, maybe a new technique or a new approach. It helps me trust in doing new things.”
Among his wood works of art are depictions of sports standouts such as Muhammad Ali, LeBron James, Sidney Crosby, Tiger Woods and Tom Brady, as well as many current and former Pittsburgh Steelers players.
Mahr, who cultivated his love of art in classes while a student at Plum, was in the final year of a course of study in marine biology at the University of South Florida when covid came about in March of last year. He traveled back home to be with family and friends until June.
“I never really knew of this form of art,” said Mahr, who was a multi-time basketball letter winner with the Mustangs. “You would see people maybe making cutting boards with sayings or peoples’ names burned into it or personalized welcome signs on someone’s front porch.
“I came across it on Instagram. This guy was doing ocean and marine life on a bigger level. With my interest in marine biology, I was drawn to it right away. I messaged him looking to buy one. I kept looking at it for weeks, and he would post new things he had done. I wanted those ones as well.”
Mahr thought about giving it a try himself. He gathered all of the necessary materials, including a butane torch, a heat pen for finer etchings and a piece of birch plywood, and got to work on his first piece: a tiger shark.
“For my first one, it was pretty good,” said Mahr, who graduated from South Florida in December. “Using a butane torch to burn and shade on wood is a little bit different than shading with a pencil. I’ve gotten a lot better, but that first one carries a lot of sentimental value for me. I look at it and see where it all started and where I came from.”
Other marine life, such as an octopus and a sea turtle, followed.
“I would show neighbors, family and friends, and it kind of snowballed from there,” he said.
Mahr then made his first sports figure: Kobe Bryant.
“When doing pencil drawings in high school, I loved doing portraits,” he said. “It was a couple of months since Kobe had passed (February 2020). At the time, I thought (the Kobe piece) was pretty good, and other people did, too. I brought it back to Florida with me. The manager of my apartment complex was a big Kobe fan, so I ended up giving it to him. He posted it on Instagram. He texted me the next day and said a friend who plays for the Buccaneers saw the Kobe piece, and asked if I would be interested in doing one for him. I was like, ‘Absolutely.’”
That Tampa Bay player is wide receiver John Franklin III. Mahr did a couple of pieces for Franklin, and that sparked the process that turned into his career work.
His works now are all commission based.
“Franklin has a large following on Instagram, and he posted what I had done on his page,” Mahr said. “I had just created some social media pages.”
Mahr gained a following on social media and more requests came in, including ones for past and present professional athletes.
“I attribute a lot of where I am at now to (Franklin), which is cool,” Mahr said. “I’ve stayed in touch, and he’s commented on a lot of my pieces. He’s all about supporting small businesses and people in the area. He couldn’t have been any nicer about it.”
Mahr’s piece on Steelers edge rusher TJ Watt garnered a Twitter response and a like from the standout defender. He noted he has received a lot of messages and requests for other Steelers players.
One of Mahr’s favorites is a piece he crafted with Steelers players Ben Roethlisberger, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert and Greg Lloyd in front of the Pittsburgh skyline.
“The guy who requested it gave me his vision,” Mahr said. “Those were his Mount Rushmore of Steelers players, and he wanted the city skyline. The rest, he said, was up to me. I spent hours searching for the right photos. I wanted to highlight the players and also find the right skyline that would go with, but not take away from, the players as the focus. It really took a lot of planning, but I was so happy with the way it turned out.”
Mahr recently made one of Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin hoisting the Stanley Cup from a request of a Plum resident as a gift for her father.
“I never know what (a request) is going to be. I get some pretty interesting ones,” Mahr said. “It actually turned out to be one of my favorites. I love how the Cup came out. She got back to me and said thank you for giving her father something so unique. That meant a lot to me.
“I am often overwhelmed with the response from people who receive one of my pieces. It’s a cool feeling to see that once they leave my doors how much they are appreciated. It really makes all the work and care I put into each piece worth it.”
While Mahr is excited to expand his business opportunities — he’s hoping to contract on a venture with the NFL and the NFL Players Association — he’s not forgotten where he came from and those who helped him grow his love of art.
He recalled the passion and dedication of his first art teacher at Plum, Samor Pieper.
Pieper said she knew Mahr’s talent could one day grow into what it has become.
“Adam has always been very humble with just an awesome personality to go along with his talent,” Pieper said.
“He always took everything he did so seriously and made sure it was top quality. He would always ask questions and had that desire to improve. I remember his love of doing portraits. He did one of Andrew McCutchen on a banner that made the news. It’s really great to see where that has taken him with his wood work.”
Photos of many of Mahr’s wood creations are on his website (adammahrart.com), his Instagram (@adammahrart), his Facebook (Facebook.com/AdamMahrArt) and on Twitter (@Adam_Mahr).
“It’s cool because I haven’t spent anything on advertising,” Mahr said. “A lot of it has been word of mouth. I have a good support group back home of family, friends and relationships I established growing up in Plum. A lot of people share it on Facebook and other places. It’s amazing what social media can do when it is used for positive means. It’s great to have so many people in my corner supporting me.”
Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-856-7400 x8632, mlove@triblive.com or via Twitter .
