We go to Egypt now, where the country's contemporary art industry is growing. We meet an artist, who is using a wood burner to turn a blank wooden canvas into meticulously crafted works of art. CGTN'S Thuli Tshabalala has that story.

This is Mai Ali Nada. She creates portraits and sketches using a wood-burning pen. The tool allows her to draw people and depict nature and animals. The wood burner creates different shades of brown --- all controlled by Nada. But It's not an easy skill to master.

MAI ALI NADA ARTIST "There are substantial differences between burning wood and painting with oil. In oil paintings you start with the whole canvas and then work your way down to the details without any specific order, it falls into place with time. But with wood burning, you have to work on one section at a time, with all of its details, because there's no room for error, and this is where burning on wood becomes difficult, any mistake made cannot be erased or fixed."

One portrait can take several months to complete --- as each meticulous dot on the wooden slab needs to be carefully placed.

MAI ALI NADA ARTIST "Up until today, when people ask me for portraits made by wood burning, I am difficult to oblige, and do not sell my work. When a portrait takes up to five months to make."

Nada uses pyrography to create her pieces. She has been practicing this type of art for over six years.

MAI ALI NADA ARTIST "I believe that expression can be stronger without the use of colour, as opposed to what is commonly known that colours increase expression. But no, you can use higher tones, use light and shade, to increase the expressive nature of a portrait using monochromatic shades."

The artist sells some of her artwork made from other materials, but for now she keeps the pieces she creates by burning wood. Thuli Tshabalala, CGTN.