LAST DAY!

DRAWING THE LINES AT PLACE. 2010

Well here it is!! All done.

The final puzzle piece was fixed into place at 3.50pm on the 30th of June.

Day 20,21 & 22

Looks like Kalle is warming his hands by a flaming camp fire! actually he is re-setting the level of the work.

Day 20

WOW! Wonderful evening last night, lots of people, great atmosphere and a jolly good picnic. I left Voimala at about 10.15pm and got home at 2.30am.........That's along day!

Visitors total for yesterday 60!!!

Generally a quiet day which I am very grateful for as I am feeling a wee bit tired........not surprising!

Worked on the end wall and did some division lines on the last end wall as I know it will make it feel less momentous when I come to it.

7 visitors today....it's very hot out side and I think most people have left work early and are travelling to their summer cottages ready for Mid-summer celebrations. Tomorrow I will do the same.....3 days off at the summer cottage and oh boy am I ready for it.

Day 21

3 days in the cottage was just what I needed.

Worked on the end wall this morning.

11.35 the end wall is completed.

Now to start the momentous task of completing the final wall......2 and a half days to get it done!

I wonder if it will be enough or will I have to put in some extra hours?????

I have been getting cramp in my hands and fingers..... took a half hour lunch break and that seemed to do the trick, my hands are more relaxed now.

3/4 of the way!!!!

Day 22

I have decided that I will hold off on any more pictures now until the work is done, hold you all in suspense!

Not a lot to write about as I just motored on with the final wall.

The morning has been quiet so I feel as though I have done really well and got quite a lot done.

The afternoon suddenly became social from 2.00 onwards, so I didn't get as much done as I had hoped but I still think it is possible I will be finished on time.

Days 18 & 19

Here I am cutting the threads to open the door during the Harjannostajaiset / Roof Raising Party, quickly followed by one very excited little person who thought it was just the bees-knees the run through the walls........ amazingly not damage done and only took a few moments to untangle the threads.

Day 18

Day before the party and I have been too busy to write much, working flat out and making calls and sending text messages to check and confirm that people can make it tomorrow.

Tuomas popped in briefly, he had just been visiting Lauri the old gentleman who was the machines master here at Voimala and will be appearing in Tuomas's film - to be shot in Voimala towards the end of July and then shown in Taidehalli, Helsinki at the end of August.

I thought that today was going to be quiet but the article in Aamuposti has made people curious....especially as the picture gives an idea as to what this Palapeli Talo (Jig-saw Puzzle House) is.

I forgot my camera today so no pictures today!

25 visitors

Day 19

I spent all of the morning correcting a mis-alignment over and around the door entrance.....took a while to find where the problem started and where it ended.

11.00 Problem solved and the door top is weighted ready for the strings to be cut and the door entrance opened this evening.

Now to continue with the filling.

Only 4 full working days left!!!!!!

Day 16 & 17

Very quiet day and I am physically slow today, I have come to realise that by Fridays my body begins to ache all over....!

I worked on the end wall all day today and I see so little progress and I really wonder if I will have it ready on time, but maybe it's just my tiredness speaking.

One thing I have noticed about this exhibition and it's placing here in Voimala is that I'm almost certain I get visitors here that would probably not go to an Art Gallery, this is a great bonus opening up art to a wider audience.

11 visitors

DAY 17

As I walk through the Turbine Hall on my way to my work I hear the flutter flutter of wings and a pigeon lands on a rail beside me...... I decide to leave the door connecting the 2 halls open in the hopes that he/she will follow me through.

Low and behold he/she does and before I have even got the main doors open there it is hovering above my head waiting.......as soon as I open the door out it goes. I feel like a good soul!

Ok! my working light bulb has blown so I shall have to wait till lunch to replace it, shame as not only does it really make a difference to the work when its lighted but it also provides a degree of warmth.

Task 1.

Set the lower level of the last wall.

10.10 77 puzzle pieces in place ready to be levelled.

10.30 Lower level done.

Now begins the hard labour of filling, an assistant would be really good right now!

11.45 The table for the faster system is set up, and although it takes time to set up it does save time in the long run.

No pictures today, I think I'll wait till I feel that I have made a bit more progress, shame I didn't get one of the pigeon.

Day 15

Getting there!

Well today I am determined to complete the second roof pitch and get as much of the wall under done as possible. Even if it means talking to my visitors from up the ladder.

I'm not really looking forward to the ladder work as after I had worked on the previous roof pitch I felt like a creaky 90 year old.

1.15 So far today it's been relatively quiet visitors wise, which is fine as I get more done that way.

Pilvi Uuttu from Aamuposti just popped in to see how I am progressing, she will be writing a follow up on the first artical reporting on the progress which is nice.

Just had a group visit from Työpaja ETAPPI.

3.45 The second roof pitch is done...........YEY!

The ladder work is a killer.

Now just a little bit of time left to do some filling and take some photos.

Day 14

Photographs by Ilona Romu

Well I guess I should try to get the things done today that I was unable to complete yesterday!

10.55 I have been all round the house and checked the levels, found a few areas that needed some adjustments which included one row too many on the facing wall, which means removing it and re-setting the rows, this has set me back a bit but at least it's done.

14.00 The facing wall is finished.....Yipee!

For the rest of the afternoon I will start the work on the second roof pitch.

I have had so many talkative visitors this afternoon which has been wonderful and engaging, exhausting also as my Finnish is still so appalling which I am ashamed of.

2 more children helped me today by adding puzzle pieces, their names are written on the back of their pieces....some how it makes it special knowing that someone's name is hidden somewhere in the house.

Very little achieved work wise....but a lot of socializing which is something I don't get when I'm working in my studio.

20 visitors

Day 13

Setting the levels on the second wall.

9.00 GOALS OF THE DAY!

1. Finish the facing wall

2. Set the levels for the adjacent wall.

3. Set the level for end wall top level.

I think this is too much for one day but it's good to have targets!

It's a seriously cold, dull and damp day today, back on with the hat and gloves!

9.30 The first 2 levels are set with string as markers.

10.30 Second window is in place.

Wonderful just as I was beginning to get seriously bored of looking at the same puzzle pieces a lady brought me a new 1000 piece puzzle (not brand new, just new to me!) It's of a chapel in Bavaria.

1.00 About 15 visitors so far.

3.15 Both level lines are done on the adjacent wall.

Time to do a bit of filling now!

20 visitors