February 2020
Etching photos in marble was a big challenge and has taken hundreds of hours, lots of marble and trial and error to (almost) perfect this process. The sources of these photos include a scanned photo, photos taken with a phone (newer and older) and a professional photographer; respectively shown in the photos. Each photo offered unique challenges to overcome to produce a beautiful piece.
From backgrounds to lighting conditions, all need to be perfectly balanced in order to produce a photo that has the finest of detail but not too dark. Cope's eyes in the original photo were reflecting the camera's flash resulting in a finished photo of Cope that appeared to have an empty expression even soulless.
Photos typically need to be white washed to lighten the dark areas and contrast to bring out the details. I have learned that applying these adjustments to the entire photo is a good start and then selecting specific areas of the photo to finish the finer details.
The photo of Pops, while it appeared to be easy to do, the photo itself needed some work. For starters, Pops wore a white corduroy hat and a grayish white sweatshirt. When the photo was whitewashed, the sweatshirt all but disappeared and the details in the corduroy hat were lost. For this photo, less white washing was done and detailing the 'racing team' verbiage by darkening the areas around the lettering as well as some sponge painting. Most importantly, the eyes, the window to the soul as they reflected who Pops was in life, were carefully enhanced.
Interestingly enough, the professional photo having the greatest detail and highest quality had its own challenges, the lighting on my grand nephew's face. As previously mentioned, the photo needs to be white washed. This is necessary because the dark areas of the photo will come out black and the areas of the photo that are too light will have no paint left on the marble for detail. This photo took me two or three tries and I picked the best one.
Finishing off these beautiful pieces, the lettering is laser cut out of wood veneer, very thin wood typically one millimeter or less thick. The marble, cut to 5 x 7", is etched to accommodate the lettering and glued in using a moisture resistant cold press glue made for veneer. The lettering is then given a satin wipe on poly finish to protect it. The edges of the marble are sanded slightly (beveled) to remove the roughness and give a softer feel. To finish the work of art, an easel is glued to the back of the marble.
October 2020 - Grand Opening of Re-Imagine.shop
Since the creation of this project, I have continued to learn and grow in the art of etching photos in marble. I have come to truly enjoy producing beautiful works of art for family and friends to enjoy for many years to come.
My confidence of blending the art, science and technology that it takes to produce these ageless pieces has grown, I'm now ready to start my business and share my work with others! Over time I will continue to share my experiences of success and failures with everyone.
As I previously stated that I had almost perfected the process...I have perfected it! I found the the perfect opulent marble, a proprietary blend of paint and methodology to produce a beautiful black and white photo in marble.
I have included photos of the work that I used to post as examples on my Re-Imagine.shop website. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them! Opening my shop isn't the end of this project rather to start another chapter.
I want to warm every piece with cherry wood veneer. Another form of artwork that I know I will enjoy working on.
Thank you for visiting my project! Jay Brooks-Wozniak Oct 4, 2020
