The photograph in this puzzle was shot by internationally recognized photographer, Michael Seewald

Michael writes: "Deciding late fall was the best time to capture nature in one if its more tumultuous states, my wife Valerie and I started by 'working' Paris, mostly under an umbrella. Afterward, we went by train to France's southwest coast, where we set up base in Bayonne. Eventually, we made it to one of my primary destinations, the posh city of Biarritz. Scouting around the bay all day, we found this perfect vantage point to capture the pounding waves on the breakwaters."

For other Michael Seewald prints available as puzzles see: Michael Seewald - Prints

I cut the puzzle in the Swirl Curl style, and while there is a little Open Curl influence, the puzzle is basically "pure" Swirl Curl, with 100% Indirect Interlocking Edges. I was tempted to do some color line cutting around the rocks, but decided not too after discovering that there were tiny images of people standing on the huge rock in the upper center and I didn't want to compromise this feature of the photograph. It took me a while to get "into" the photo, it is so monochromatic looking - but this is the way the weather was, and what attracted me to the photo in the first place (being a weather and ocean buff) - and after I while I really got into it - observing the vacated tables and chairs, the parked catamarans, the huge surf, the onlookers, the doleful stratus clouds. Many of Michael Seewald's photographs are like this - the longer I look at them, the more I see.

There are three figurals added to the picture, a sea turtle, and a flying figure with horn blasting - representing the elemental force of air acting on the sea. I was thinking about adding something to represent the land in addition to the sky and sea - a construction crane - but after much searching could not come up with a satisfactory representation.

Significant milestones

• First time appearance - two inter-related figures.

As it happened (from my Journal archives)

July 19-21, 2000

I spent a lot of time deciding if I wanted this puzzle to have no figurals - or go with my more recent inclination to include at least one. I finally decided that I'll probably always have at least one - and always closely related to the puzzle - or some kind of impression of mine how I reacted to the image in the puzzle - not figurals for figurals sake. As I'm not particularly good with drawing figures, I spend several hours on the "Angel" before coming up with a design that I felt was both pleasing and was compatible with the restrictions required by making a puzzle piece that is reasonably strong and elegant.