As it happened (from my Journal archives)

July 20, 2005

5:40 pm - As for Red Boat, I started late. I completed the initial cutting and about 25 pieces. I plan to pick up the pace tomorrow.

July 21, 2005

4:54 pm - One word for today. Hot. Immediate coastal areas OK, but just a few miles inland, where I have my shop, very hot. I did a few hours of cutting this afternoon, the puzzle is now about 1/3 done, cutting going well. Interior shop temperature peaked at 102 degrees; the shop is almost like a greenhouse. A couple fans made the situation survivable. I'm going to get up early tomorrow and do a lot of cutting. I don't expect to complete the puzzle until Saturday. I'd like to get the auction launched by Saturday evening.

July 22, 2005

4:07 pm - I did the most cutting today since moving; working on Red Boat. I cut close to 200 pieces and am now about 70% done, cutting continues to go well. Continued very hot, 99 degrees in the shop. I plan to complete the puzzle tomorrow and launch the auction late in the afternoon, local time.

July 23, 2005

6:49 pm - The puzzle is done, the auction launched. There is some pretty cool cutting in the puzzle, with snippets of Creative style leaking in the Swirl Curl cut puzzle. 505 pieces, representative of the current state of the art of my Swirl Curl style. Three days of work. I'm going to take a couple days off from cutting, in preparation for the next puzzle, The Last Supper, a major Creative style puzzle.

From the auction description:

This puzzle, Red Boat, Thailand, 2003, features an excellent photograph by master photographer Michael Seewald, the photographer whom I've featured several times before within the 100 Puzzles Project. This image was removed from one of Michael Seewald's 13th Annual, limited edition art calendars (the July page from year 2005), of which 499 were printed. This puzzle is a limited edition of ONE, I will not be purchasing any additional year 2005 calendars nor accepting commissions from others for this image. Purchase information is here. The picture is a time exposure, causing a smoothing of the waters and a slight blurring of some palm fronds in the wind.

The puzzle includes three figurals: an outline of Thailand (made from three pieces), a Bird and "The Observer"; and my signature piece (signed, numbered and dated on the back). I also marked a second piece on the back (the France piece), indicating the puzzle belongs to the 100 Puzzles Project.

This puzzle is cut in my Swirl Curl cutting style with small pieces. The Swirl Curl style here is a little more intense than usual, my first comprehensive puzzle since taking a break to move to a new apartment. I spent three days cutting it with considerable thought given to "flow cutting" techniques - a method to make the cutting lines appear to lyrically flow through some of the pieces. There is a little color line cutting.

Note: The picture was taken a year before the massive tsunami hit in late 2004.