Here is the very beginning of the MAZE Series. A simple photograph of my little work desk and the start of something altogether new for me. A return of pattern on pattern confusion within the confines of a completely geometric MAZE.

It all started back in 2010 when I was in the middle of The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner. A book recommended to me by my dear friend and librarian Heather Holley-Hall. The series is not one of the best she has recommended and she said as much. But it’s a nice fable of the unsolvable experiment of life and death. And apparently it left a memorable impression on me.

At the time I started just by drawing isometric mazes in pencil in a gridded notebook I was keeping. I drew forty of these and then quickly turned them into Illustrator files. Flipping each image into four images of two mirrors. All this was done in 2010-2011.

Simultaneously I was looking into getting a plotter/cutter to assist in the making of all my work. It wasn’t until a few months ago I actually sank some money into getting that piece of equipment for my studio. Instantly it all came together. What better way of learning how to use this machine than a completely geometric series?

The image above shows the 180 plus sheets I had to crop in preparation. At four sheets per image and forty images, I needed at least 160 crops. I did a few extra in case of disaster.

The plexiglass viewfinder, in the upper right hand corner, I had made at Canal Plastics the night before going with Sydney Wnukoski to a reading and signing of Justin Cronin’s The Twelve. Another series suggested by Heather Holley-Hall that I  highly recommend. It all ties nicely together.

While preparing this post I went back to see how earlier posts were configured for SEO and I saw that it has been more than a month since my last post. Horror and shame came over me. Then I remembered what a rough month it was with Hurricane Sandy and all the subsequent drama. I will try not to let it happen again. So buckle up, this is going to be a long series.