With an idea of shapes and patterns appropriate for the image, the first step is to design, on the computer, the layers of overlapping components that will create the complete picture. For Mike Eadington’s photograph with fir and aspen trees reflected from the surface of a lake, I’ve chosen 3 component shapes: arrowheads and aspen leaves for the trees and smooth ovals for the water. These are arranged in separate layers as shown – each color representing a different level.
The image “Autumn Colors Reflected”:
The pattern of components:
The separate components are condensed for printing:
Because paper is not firm enough to hold a shape, the components are stuck to flattened aluminum cans to give them some stiffness. The first step is to collect, clean, and flatten the cans. (I used to go dumpster-diving at the recycle center, but now I have an extensive supply chain of friends…)
An adhesive layer is put on the back of the printed sheets, and sections are cut out and adhered to the flattened cans:
The components are then cut out (regular scissors!) and shaped (in the case of the leaves shown below by scoring the back with an inkless ballpoint pen).
To show where the support posts for each layer should go, along with a row-and-column address for the individual components, a template is assembled and taped behind the acrylic backing. A section of this template is shown here:
The posts are added, using the template as a guide; for this piece, the posts ranged from 1/8” up to 3/4”:
The real fun begins when the components of each layer are glued to the posts, oriented by the template and the underlying layers:
Completed piece:
Detail view of the aspens:
The reverse side is pretty interesting, too!
