Elephant No. 78: Jigsaw Puzzle

For today's elephant, I thought I'd try making a jigsaw puzzle. Well, not making a puzzle exactly, because I wouldn't have time today to cut out the pieces, but at least creating a design on top of a pre-cut puzzle.

The earliest jigsaw puzzles were paintings on wood which were then cut apart into shaped pieces with a jigsaw. The London mapmaker and engraver John Spilsbury is believed to have been the first to commercialize jigsaw puzzles around 1760.

Dutch puzzle from the eighteenth century. Many early jigsaw puzzles
were dissected maps.
Source: http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/early-toys-
the-jigsaw-or-dissected-puzzle/

Although most jigsaw puzzles today are made of cardboard, three-dimensional puzzles with foam-backed pieces, as well as high-end puzzles made of wood, are also available.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a children's paint-your-own-puzzle kit in an art store. I didn't pick it up at the time, and they were out of them when I went back earlier this week. Luckily I found this much cheaper version at a discount store.

Obviously the first thing was that Santa had to go. I had originally thought I'd paint over him with white paint to create a blank "canvas". I had even dragged out my paints and had some white ready to go, when it occurred to me that I could just flip the puzzle over and use the side that was already blank. Duh.

Since I now had plain wood to work with, I decided I might not like to paint at all today. I didn't mind pyrography when I did it weeks ago, so that's what I went with for today's elephant.

The first thing I did was sketch something on the wood. I'm not so confident of my pyrography skills that I wanted to risk trying to draw with the woodburning pen, sight unseen.

Next, I inscribed the main outlines of the elephant. I won't bother rehashing how pyrography works for me, except to say that getting a solid line isn't that easy with the tool I have, because it tends to catch a little on the grain of the wood. Still, it's not a horrible process, and it's simple enough to go back in afterwards and fix things.

After this, it's a straightforward process of filling in the design with shading and so forth. I did this quickly, so I didn't photograph any stages along the way.

When I was finished with the elephant part, I added a series of dots to the outside of the frame, just to add a bit of visual interest.

I enjoyed making this puzzle, and I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out. If I'd done this earlier in the season, I might even have considered making a couple of these as Christmas gifts. Oh, well—there's always next year.

Elephant Lore of the Day
Kandula was a famous Sri Lankan war elephant in the first century B.C. According to the Sinhala chronicle, the Mahavamsa, when the future King Dutthagamani was born in 101 B.C., many valuable items appeared spontaneously. These things were found and brought to the infant by various people. One of the gifts was an elephant found by a fisherman named Kandula.

The elephant was named for the fisherman, and became the constant companion of Dutthagamani. When Dutthagamani became a man, Kandula served as his mount during the wars that led to the unification of Sri Lanka. The mascot of today's Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment is called Kandula, in honour of the royal elephant.

Kandula VII, mascot of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment,
inspecting the troops and accepting their salute. The regiment has had
an elephant as its mascot since 1961.
Source: http://sundaytimes.lk/110424/News/nws_25.html

In 2001, an Asian elephant born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., was also named for Kandula. This Kandula is only the second elephant ever conceived by artificial insemination.

To Support Elephant Welfare 

World Wildlife Fund  

World Society for the Protection of Animals

Elephant sanctuaries (this Wikipedia list allows you to click through to information on a number of sanctuaries around the world)
Performing Animal Welfare Society
Zoocheck
Bring the Elephant Home
African Wildlife Foundation

Elephant No. 22: Pyrography

Years ago, one of my brothers gave me a woodburning kit. I tried it only once before deciding that I didn't really like it. I came across the kit again last week, and decided it might be worth a second shot.

Pyrography—also known as woodburning or, more archaically, pokerwork—literally means "writing with fire". Although modern pyrography relies on specialized tools, pyrography was traditionally practiced with pokers heated in a fire, or even by concentrating the Sun's rays through a magnifying glass.

The practice likely dates back to prehistoric times, when early humans used fire embers to create designs. Pyrography was a common art in Ancient Egypt, and has been used by some African peoples for millennia. During China's Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220), it was rather poetically known as "fire-needle embroidery".

Pyrography tools and machines were invented during the Victorian era, sparking new interest in the craft. Experimentation led to new techniques in tinting and shading and, by the early twentieth century, electric hot-wire etching machines had helped to automate the process. Today, pyrography remains a traditional folk art in many countries around the world.

Although you can spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on specialized woodburning equipment, the simplest type of woodburning implement looks exactly like a soldering iron. The solid brass tip heats up, and stays at a fixed temperature. There are also the more sophisticated "wire nib" burners, which come with variable temperature controls. Both types have interchangeable nibs. Mine is the simple type, and actually came with a special tip that transforms it into a soldering iron.

There are various ways to create a range of lines and shading in pyrography. Different nibs produce different effects, as does changing the temperature of the tool, and adjusting the way the tool is applied to the wood. Hardwoods are preferable for pyrography, because their finer grain interferes less with the design. A light-coloured wood is also preferable, for obvious reasons. The piece I tried years ago was a tiger on a square of grainy plywood that came with the kit, which may have led to my disenchantment with the technique.

Pyrography is also used on leather, and dried gourds, both of which can result in highly dramatic images. Well, in the right hands, anyway.

Arabian StallionAdri and Cassie Pretorius
Pyrography on leather
Source: http://carverscompanion.com/Ezine/Vol7Issue5/KMenendez/KMenendez.html

Hare's Lament by Jenn Avery.
Pyrography on gourd
Source: http://www.jragourdart.com/wildlifegourds.asp
See more of Jenn's incredible work at www.jragourdart.com and
www.etsy.com/shop/JRAGourdArt

For today's elephant, I decided to try pyrography on a little wooden box I had. I'm not sure what kind of wood it is, but it seems to have a fine grain, and it's very light in colour.

I assumed my skills would be pretty much limited to outlining in this technique, so I sketched something simple on top of the box.

One of the first things I noticed is that the tool has a tendency to catch on the grain of the wood, making for a sort of juddering line if you apply any kind of pressure. Another thing I found is that the tool I had is a bit awkward. Because of the length between the handle and the point, I didn't have a lot of control over where the point went, or the amount of pressure I could use.

Once I got the hang of it, I actually didn't mind the technique. I outlined everything first, occasionally using a sort of pointillism to draw some of the lines.

After I'd done the outline, I went back in, using the tip very lightly as a sort of sketching tool. The fine shading is the result of barely scratching the surface of the wood with the tip.

This took me about half an hour, and I quite like the result. I may go back and do some more to it at some point, or do something to the sides, or perhaps even stain or varnish it. But for now I'm happy with it as it is.

Elephant Lore of the Day
One of Europe's most renowned elephants was Hanksen, whose name is a Dutch derivation of the Malayalam word aana, meaning "elephant". Born in Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka), Hanksen was brought to Holland in 1637, when she was seven years old.

When Hanksen arrived in Amsterdam, the artist Rembrandt—who was quite taken with the exotic creature—made several sketches of her. For the next eighteen years, Hanksen toured Europe, performing to the delight of both the nobility and the paying public in Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Ein Elefant (An Elephant), 1637
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669)
Charcoal on paper
17.9 x 25.6 cm (7 x 10 in.)
The British Museum, London
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hansken.rembrandt.jpg

Taking Roman author Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23–79) as their authority, Europeans of the seventeenth century believed that elephants were highly intellectual, able to understand human speech, follow commands, and write words in the Greek alphabet. It was even thought that elephants had a sense of religion, as well as a conscience.

Although Hansken fell somewhat short of this lofty ideal, she did have many clever tricks in her repertoire. She could fire a pistol, wave a flag, beat a drum, steal money from people's pockets, put a hat on her head, and pick up coins from the ground.

Hansken died in November 1655, greatly mourned by many—including artist Stefano della Bella, who memorialized her in death.

Elefante morto in Firenze, adi 9 di novembre 1655Stefano della Bella (1610–1664)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hansken.Bella2.jpg

To Support Elephant Welfare
World Wildlife Fund
World Society for the Protection of Animals
Elephant sanctuaries (this Wikipedia list allows you to click through to information on a number of sanctuaries around the world)
Performing Animal Welfare Society
Zoocheck
Bring the Elephant Home