I visited island of Jurmo (http://goo.gl/maps/KrQqe) early 2012. Place is amazing, certainly nothing like Finland. It was like being abroad. It felt so alien.
There are several shingle beaches and they are huge. The one I got stuck with my camera and macro lens is over hundred meters deep and about two kilometers long. I lost sense of time and place and took a picture after another. So I have couple of hundred pictures of differents sized stones and no real idea of what to do with them.
Late 2013 I participated to a creative printing course by Gary Wornell (http://www.garywornell.com/content/workshops.htm). Besides beeing excellent course it gave me an idea how I could use these pictures of stones. On a block of wood that has been rounded I would transfer a picture of a stone. Here are images of the first experiment. Shape is good, but transfer didn't work as well as I hoped. It gave me verification that I'm on right track, but there's plenty of work ahead.
10.1.2014
I have now about 6 months until the D-day. I should have 40 to 50 pieces ready by then. Eight pieces per month or two pieces per week. I'm not completely happy about any piece I have made yet so I'll better start cracking.
I made yesterday 12 new blocks of wood. So I have 23 blocks ready. Next step is to do image transfers. Hopefully I'll have at least a couple pieces next week that I'm happy with.
The second feasibility check
From the last batch of blocks I managed to make couple of very nice transfers. I may have the process sorted out now. Let's see. Sinse I have over ten pieces I had to check what it looks like to have several pieces together. Does it have the effect I kinda hope it has. Yes. I think it does. It worked out pretty well. A surprice or two, but in the end quite good. Here's two pictures how it looks. I'm happy, it looks quite a lot like shingle beach.
28.1.2014
I was yesterday making more blocks of wood. This morning I made an inventory. I have 29 blocks. I'm happy with transfer of nine blocks, so they are waiting for warnish. From three I need to remove warnish and reapply it (layer was too thick and it became glossy). Five need a bit of retouch (edges are disturbingly broken or small holes in the middle of the image). And finally 14 pristine blocks are waiting for an image. I still have several meters of wood waiting to be sawed and sanded.
I think I'm well in schedule and without big hicups I should have more blocks ready than I'll need eventually.
31.1.2014
Four more Image transfers with thicker paper (180gsm), which has troubled me earlier. They all worked well, but not perfect yet. Here's an example:
5.2.2014
Nine pieces are ready. I added varnish to them yesterday and they look good. I fixed broken surfaces with black acrylic paint. Not from all but on most of them before varnish. As I make more maybe I can relax a bit and start to appreciate defects as essential part. Maybe.
Back to Jurmo
4.3.2014
I'll be visiting Jurmo again. I need pictures of the sea and a panorama of the beach. There shouldn't be snow or ice and hopefully I'll have at least a glimpse of the sun. It will be fun.
More blocks
I was lucky, there was sunshine. Two days and I took 2500 photographs. About 400 pictures of stones, over 1000 pictures of sea, you get the idea. It will take a week or two to go through all the images, but I think I have now enough material to make the exhibition
Panorama from shingle beach where I have taken over 1000 pictures. I will use this as a background for the installation.
And finally how exhibition turned out. You can see the reflection of the artist in the middle.
