Behind the Scenes - See Through Nature

See Through Nature was one of our new releases for 2020 and this 1000 piece puzzle has gathered a lot of attention from you all on social media, so we thought we would reveal a little more about this gorgeous little jigsaw.

This jigsaw is actually made up of two images. The original is by Holland-based radiation physicist Arie van't Riet. He revolutionised the traditional way of using x-ray imagery by accidentally becoming an artist after using x-ray imagery to capture natural life-processes. Here is our original, which we licensed from the Science Photo Library.



According to Demilked.com, a friend of Riet once asked him to take an x-ray image of his painting. They were both stunned by the result, so the physicist started to contemplate other creative applications for the technique and he turned his attention to nature. Riet realised that even the most common specimens can become otherworldly under the x-ray, especially after he digitally adds light colours that look like delicate ink pictures on silk paper.

You can understand more of this process in his TedX talk.

Here are some examples of his work:

The original work is beautiful, but unfortunately, it needed more colour and pattern to make it an enjoyable jigsaw puzzle. So we contacted talented artist Lara Skinner and was able to add the gorgeous butterflies, dragonflies and flowers, as well as the background colours of oranges, pinks and purples – transforming this interesting x-ray into a kaleidoscope of colour that makes it a fun and engaging jigsaw puzzle.

Below are some images of Lara’s development progress:

And some close ups of the completed jigsaw puzzles:

We hope you enjoy See Through Nature! It can be purchased directly from our website or is available via online stockists and independent high street stores.