feature: 1000 pieces
Brand New Day by Clare Youngs (WerkShoppe 1000)
From my backlog, “Brand New Day” by Clare Youngs, WerkShoppe 1000. Fun! and easy!
Autumn on Bow Bridge by Joy LaForme (Galison 1000)
I was attracted by Joy LaForme’s “Autumn on Bow Bridge”, and I did enjoy assembling this piece … but oh, Galison, why did you make 1000 pieces of the ABAB puzzle shape? no ABBB or AABB or AAAA? aggghhh … also, there were a number of large-ish chunks that were still assembled! Cardboard was fully […]
Stranger by the Lake (Bare Ass Creek) by Ken Gun Min (Kinstler 1000)
Gorgeous artwork — “Stranger by the Lake (Bare Ass Creek)” by Ken Gun Min, which made for an amazing puzzle from Kinstler. What a fun puzzle! Also, pretty challenging! Lots of little colored or patterned sections, but so many that it was a little too busy for me to solve in a very organized fashion. […]
Mid-Century Modern Dream Home by Diane Dempsey (Cobble Hill 1000)
Another fun Diane Dempsey mid-century modern style illustration, from Cobble Hill. A fast pleasurable solve.
puzzle abandoned
I couple of years ago I ran across “Cross & Glory” which, admittedly, had a bit of a scary name, but they said it was about England …. okay. The images were fun, and I bought three puzzles — “Petals & the Midnight Cat”, “Fantastical Treehouse Escape”, and “Caribbean Treasure Hunt”. When I got them […]
A Budmaster in His Shop (Workman 1000)
Parody of “A Goldsmith in His Shop” (1449) by Dutch Renaissance painter Peter Christus (1410/1420 – c. 1475/1476), but with pot! Parody (“satirical modification”) by James Williamson. This may have been my first Workman Publishing Puzzle. It was very like eeboo — high gloss, solid cardboard, standard piece sizes. The art, too, was like some […]
Franklin Carmichael Collection (Cobble Hill 1000)
I really loved this puzzle! Cobble Hill Puzzles, 1000-piece, “Carmichael Collection” in the “Canadian Artist Series”. Franklin Carmichael (1890-1945), member of the Group of Seven, and a Theosophist …. The five included artworks are all in the collections at the Art Gallery of Ontario and include, clockwise from top left, “Light and Shadow” (1937), “Autumn […]
Let the Outside In by Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins (Pomegranate 1000)
I picked this up on sale a while back, and pulled it out of my backlog for its surrealist autumnal vibes. It wasn’t difficult, but I didn’t love the solve. Lots of elements, patterns, etc., kept it moving (although … so. much. fur!) but I think I wasn’t really feeling the image. Anyway, happy to […]
Agatha’s Apothecary by Helen Black (WerkShoppe 1000)
Another from my backlog (it will embarrassing to ultimately search all the posts with the word “backlog” — I went a little nuts in 2023-2024 in terms of buying puzzles!). This is from WerkShoppe, “Agatha’s Apothecary”, by Helen Black (Advocate-Art.com). The description says it’s “foil”, which I’m not quite sure what that means, but there […]
Dia de los Muertos by Candy Mayer (Hennessy 1000)
Loved this “Dia de los Muertos” puzzle from Hennessy Puzzles (art by Candy Mayer). I love Hennessy’s whole collection and would happily do all of them! But I continue to work my way through a backlog. Still, this one is a keeper.
Shakespearean Insults
Man, this was super challenging. “Shakespearean Insults“, from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild — a 1000 piece puzzle. Pale blue and dark blue and black text, serif and sans serif, italics, camel case and all caps, and varying sizes … it was all totally doable but you had to stare at it a long time! Luckily […]
Vintage Paris, from Willow Creek
A collage of vintage Paris iconography (dominated by la Tour Eiffel), assembled by Tina Higgins (possibly this Tina Higgins, at MHS Licensing, who is a graphic designer who works with vintage imagery), and published by Willow Creek. Also from my backlog! This was possibly my first Willow Creek puzzle — griddish but with more piece […]
Sierra Range by Charley Harper (Pomegranate 1000)
I love Charley Harper art — nature scenes, plus geometric shapes, bright colors — and love the Pomegranate puzzles of Charley Harper. This one was on my to-do pile, and I’m pushing through a lot of puzzles right now …. I really love running my hand over completed Pomegranate puzzles. Somehow it’s more satisfying than […]
Merry Wives of Windsor by Peter Church (Ravensburger 1000)
Oh the pain — a missing piece, right from the border! I’m sure this piece is somewhere in my couch or nearby — but on the other hand, the cats the other night were running around like kittens playing hockey with the cork coasters and pipe cleaners, so a single puzzle piece could have gotten […]
Autumn Wheel (Elena Essex 1000)
Possibly my first Elena Essex puzzle? Very pretty, and very fast — it’s an autumnal-themed color wheel, and was a nice fast assembly.
Mid Summer Night Dream by Enzhao Liu
I’d had this 1000-piece puzzle (“Mid Summer Night Dream” by Enzhao Liu) from Antelope for a while, and was leery of doing it because it seemed dark and hard, but actually it came together very quickly and beautifully. There was lots of variation in the various birds and tree forms, and even the night sky […]
Totem Pole in the Mist by Terry Isaac (Cobble Hill 1000)
I loved this painting of a totem pole and crow by Terry Isaac (and look, Terry also includes a page highlighting puzzle adaptations!) and it made a lovely 1000-piece puzzle by Cobble Hill. The background ended up offering a gradient, more or less, from the top right light-sky quadrant to the bottom left darker grey. […]
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Canvas, Cloudberries
My first Cloudberries. I’ll admit, I don’t get it — I had the impression that Cloudberries was sort of a cut above, but it feels like basically any reputable cardboard puzzle company. There were actually more than one or two false fits in this cut. Plus, at least half a dozen pieces where a cardboard […]
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