Illustrated in-depth review and assembly journal of a hand-cut puzzle made by Canadian cutter Mary Lee Smyth with an image by cubist painter Thorvald Hellesen (about 3800 words; 21 photos)
Good stuff, Bill. I had sort of slipped into thinking that your affection for the puzzles you review and the ones you own had mostly been centred on laser-cut puzzles. I was glad today to be reminded about hand-cut puzzles. What you shared about the skills and tools involved in the latter is appreciated. I rather think technological approaches to bringing out the colours for a hundred-year-old painting are blessing,. especially as that image is now being made available as a puzzle. I fear that full enjoyment too many of the historically great paintings gets diminished because of varnish darkening, pollution effects on paints, etc. So, I was especially interested today in your discussion and comparison re: colouring. By the way, I also love the image of the balalaika and Smyth's commentary about that. Thanks for this posting, Bill.
Fine hand-cut puzzles are inherently quite labour-intensive, and therefore expensive. So buying them can only be a rare splurge for me and I give them time to “ripen” with anticipation. I currently have two newly-made SrB puzzles, and a bunch of vintage ones that UI have bought from auctions, that are doing just that.
I really appreciate that so many puzzle-makers have been willing to help me better understand the technical side of things, like how the state-of-the-art printing, laser-cutting, and even the mechanics of scroll saws have been improving in recent years, as well as insights into their evolving bag-of-tricks for making cutting designs. They have a few trade secrets but for the most part they are quite willing to give me a peek into what seems to me to be a new golden age for an old craft.
Good stuff, Bill. I had sort of slipped into thinking that your affection for the puzzles you review and the ones you own had mostly been centred on laser-cut puzzles. I was glad today to be reminded about hand-cut puzzles. What you shared about the skills and tools involved in the latter is appreciated. I rather think technological approaches to bringing out the colours for a hundred-year-old painting are blessing,. especially as that image is now being made available as a puzzle. I fear that full enjoyment too many of the historically great paintings gets diminished because of varnish darkening, pollution effects on paints, etc. So, I was especially interested today in your discussion and comparison re: colouring. By the way, I also love the image of the balalaika and Smyth's commentary about that. Thanks for this posting, Bill.
Regards,
Greg Skala
Fine hand-cut puzzles are inherently quite labour-intensive, and therefore expensive. So buying them can only be a rare splurge for me and I give them time to “ripen” with anticipation. I currently have two newly-made SrB puzzles, and a bunch of vintage ones that UI have bought from auctions, that are doing just that.
I really appreciate that so many puzzle-makers have been willing to help me better understand the technical side of things, like how the state-of-the-art printing, laser-cutting, and even the mechanics of scroll saws have been improving in recent years, as well as insights into their evolving bag-of-tricks for making cutting designs. They have a few trade secrets but for the most part they are quite willing to give me a peek into what seems to me to be a new golden age for an old craft.