My name is Sylwia Woźniczka, and Sylwia Wanda is the name I use for this website and my Instagram profile. I am a hunting gun engraver and a painter by training. Since 2010 I have been engraving hunting guns, pistols, knives and watches by hand in my workshop in Katowice, Poland. I guide every line by hand. I work with hand gravers and a GRS pneumatic engraver, with no laser and no machines that cut a pattern from a program. Hand gun engraving is a niche profession in Poland.
At a glance:
- I have been engraving guns by hand since 2010. I learned the craft at the Wróblewski & Syn gunsmith company in Katowice.
- I graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice (diploma in 2009, award for the best diploma).
- I engrave in every style: from classic scrollwork and hunting scenes to realistic bulino, in which I transfer photos and paintings onto steel.
- I engrave guns of any make. My graver has worked on Beretta, Blaser, Merkel, Krieghoff, Dumoulin, Browning, Mannlicher, guns from the Polish Ryszard Skwarek gunsmithy, and SIG Sauer and Desert Eagle pistols, among others.
- I work on my own account in Katowice and take commissions from Poland and abroad.
How hand gun engraving works
Every engraving starts with a conversation about what the client wants to see on their gun. That conversation becomes an engraving design, which I send to the client by email. I only start work once the client has approved the design. My job is to transfer the idea onto steel so that the client sees exactly what they imagined.
I draw the pattern, transfer it onto the metal and cut it with a graver, line by line. The GRS engraver gives me a constant striking force, but my hand sets the direction and depth of every line. That is why no two of my engravings are ever identical.
The styles I engrave in
I engrave in every style, from classic scrollwork to a realistic portrait. I enjoy challenges and unusual projects the most, such as the grip cap with a fox, where the motif had to work around a screw in the middle of the cap. Most often I engrave classic hunting motifs: acanthus leaf spiral scrollwork, animal scenes and hunting scenes. I am just as happy to take on subjects beyond hunting, such as portraits, landscapes and pop culture images. One example: a Desert Eagle with a Tolkien theme. I feel closest to the Italian, English and American schools, because I consider them the most artful.
One of these styles is bulino, one of the most precise and demanding engraving techniques. It comes from the Italian engraving tradition. I build the image from thousands of tiny dots, lines and cuts, made by hand in the metal. Together they create light and shade, texture and the illusion of depth. In practice, dot and line bulino are often combined in a single piece. With this method I recreate photos and paintings, portraits for example, so that they keep as much realism as possible. Painting helps me here: for years I painted realistic portraits and learned to be faithful to detail.
I also engrave small parts that the client holds in their hand every day: a rifle bolt knob or a stock grip cap. I also do gold inlay, for example on a hunting knife. More engraved knives are in the knives portfolio. Besides guns and knives, I engrave watches (including Rolex and Omega) and other metal objects. Examples are in the portfolio under Miscellaneous.
From painting to gun engraving
In 2003 I graduated from the Józef Pankiewicz Secondary School of Fine Arts in Katowice, and in 2004 I began studying painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. I defended my diploma in 2009 in the studio of Prof. Ireneusz Walczak and received the Best Diplomas 2009 award for it, funded by Biuro Projektowania Systemów Cyfrowych S.A. in Chorzów. I paint realistically, mainly portraits of women and children against architecture, often in a socialist realist and postmodern style.
In 2010 I started working at the Wróblewski & Syn gunsmith company in Katowice. There I learned gun engraving under the guidance of gunsmith Andrzej Wróblewski. Today I work on my own account. I am a member of the Polish Hunting Association (PZŁ).
How to commission a gun engraving
I take commissions directly from gun owners, through gun shops and through gunsmiths. I work for clients from Poland and abroad. Clients from abroad send the part to a gunsmith I work with in Poland, who disassembles it before engraving. When you first get in touch, describe the gun (make, model, where the engraving should go) and the motif you have in mind. You will find examples of my work in the portfolio and my gun engraving offer on the home page. Write to me or call: my phone number and email are on the Contact page.
Exhibitions, awards, plein air workshops
2007 Nasvetima Tapybal / Familiar Painting, Galerija Akademija, Vilnius
2008 Studio of Prof. Ireneusz Walczak, BMW Showroom, Katowice
2009 Best Diplomas 2009, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice
2009 Award for the best diploma in painting, funded by Biuro Projektowania Systemów Cyfrowych S.A. in Chorzów
2009 Promocje 2009, BWA Gallery, Legnica
2011 Parallel Worlds, solo exhibition (with Agnieszka Florczyk), Czas Gallery, Katowice
2011 Sylwia Woźniczka: Painting, solo exhibition, Ateneum Gallery, Katowice
2012 Distinction in the Painting Competition of the Franciszka Eibisch Foundation
2014 11th National Plein Air Painting Workshop in Pstrągowa
2014 Post-Plein Air Painting Exhibition, Browar Mieszczański, Wrocław
2015 15th National Plein Air Painting Workshop in Zaborek
2016 Post-Plein Air Exhibition of Painting and Printmaking, “Uroczysko”, Zaborek
2016 Memory of Place, group exhibition with Klaudia Kaczmarek, Elżbieta Pamuła and Monika Tobiańska-Porc, BWA Gallery of Contemporary Art, Olkusz
2017 120 cm, group exhibition with Klaudia Kaczmarek, Elżbieta Pamuła and Monika Tobiańska-Porc, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice
2018 Wejście WPKiW, solo exhibition, Galeria Pojedyncza, Katowice