Wood burning or pyrography is the technique of using heated metal tips to burn images in many different media. The traditional material is wood; she uses Baltic Birch plywood for its light colour and smooth grain. Her favourite medium is Strathmore Bristol paper. The heated metal tips toast the paper without burning through. She has used leather for several pieces, and its distinct surface responds well to heat.

Pyrography is an ancient technique the early settlers called “Poker Art”, and the American Indians used burning to decorate their tents and pottery, thus giving her pieces a timeless almost ethereal quality, all too precious in a time surrounded by technology and plastics.

For the Poster of the Hoover Dam, Marsha burned the images onto Baltic Birch and colored them with colored pencils and metallic markers. Then a photo was taken to make the prints for the poster.