More Puzzle Fun

Late last night I got an email from my college friend Jenny, my partner in this quest to turn my artwork into jigsaw puzzles.  She and her husband just finished the jigsaw version of A History of Art that they commissioned, and sent me the photo, which gave me a good reason to send them an update regarding my investigations into locations that might sell my work in this form. Part of their response was to ask for address verification because they intended to send me some of the puzzle prototypes they created.  And also to seek a copy of one more boardwalk print, my piece about miniature golf.

My first concern when she wrote she was sending me all the puzzles was that she was looking to end her involvement, but the fact that she was seeking a new photo convinced me otherwise.  I had sent Jenny several large format photos, but not this one yet. Of all the boardwalk prints, this is the one I found the least interesting, which doesn't mean I thought it bad. A Belmar artist who learned I was doing a boardwalk series scanned and sent me an old photo of her kids on Belmar's boardwalk, right in front of this miniature golf course.   The course was destroyed by a nor'easter back in the early 80's, not rebuilt of course, and I wasn't aware of any other photos of it in existence.  The giant bluefish (which my brother and I used to refer to as a whale in our youth), the odd red and white picket fence, and the lights all come from the photo, but everything else came from me, like much of the other prints in the series, fictitious, but plausible.  The giant clown is not based on any real such thing, but is meant to evoke many large creepy fiberglass structures, common sights on these courses.  I like the colors, both in choices and arrangement.  The actual location is long gone, nothing is copyrighted, so maybe this is a perfect one for this project. Just had to get a large format photo to send down.  We are getting into another heat wave right now, so I decided to go to the Studio early as I could, before the heat got too bad.

So this morning I grabbed this prototype of the image and drove up there.  Down in my space I got the photos I needed (such as this one above) and put stuff back in my car.  I noticed Nichole's car in the lot, and hadn't seen her since the last food giveaway, so decided to go back and see if I could track her down, get some answers, and I found her on the 1st floor.  She confirmed that she had gotten my email about the new doorknob and lock, so I got her response today- as I expected it was a repair in progress, and she's waiting for our response before proceeding.  I promised her I would try to contact Molly and see what her opinions were. She seemed interested in the recent video project, so I promised her a link to it later this weekend.  My part is relatively small, but she said she wanted to put it on the building website, and any publicity can be good.

Back home I sent Jenny the new image and got some clarity.  Indeed the puzzle project is continuing, but she's afraid to seek locations on her own boardwalk right now (currently covid is spiking along the Maryland coast where she now owns property), so she is sending me some of the prototypes she has created so I can use them to seek selling locations. And she is going to hold back at least one for herself (that is how this project started). Beyond that, we will see.