Month: November 2023

Pop Art Puzzle

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Pop Art Puzzle by Andrew Rae – Laurence King – 1000 pieces

This amazing puzzle was one of the most interesting and entertaining puzzles I’ve done in a VERY long time. I started in the morning around 8 am, and was finished by 10 pm – it was beautiful, educational, interesting, weird, and FUN!

It’s going to be an extremely long post, so buckle up!

Laurence King is a new to me brand, and I was duly impressed by the excellent quality. (The World of Frankenstein was my second LK puzzle to be assembled, but was posted last month for the Halloween holiday) These puzzles are manufactured in the Netherlands, and the puzzles seem to be exactly the same quality of a Jumbo puzzle. The fit is exquisite, the image reproduction is bright and crisp with a variety of piece shapes and the waxy-feeling finish that makes it seem like a premium quality puzzle – because it is!

*Beware though, it seems puzzles by the same brand that are made in China are not of the same quality as those made in the Netherlands. If you can’t be sure where the puzzle was manufactured proceed with caution. I would only purchase ones I was certain were made in the Netherlands.*

According to the surprisingly large (23 x 17 in.) poster in the box, “This puzzle presents illustrator Andrew Rae’s reimagined version of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, taking the glorious and surreal scene in a new, pop-art-inspired direction.” There is a wonderfully detailed and interesting section about both Bosch’s Garden and the pop art movement along with a legend of the artists and artwork represented in this image.

I loved learning about the artists and seeing the portrayals of well-known (and some not as well-known, at least to me) artists and artwork. The image isn’t something I would normally choose for puzzling, but the subject matter and the included poster with so much information was just too good to pass up. As it turns out, it was much more engrossing than expected and the assembly was truly delightful. 💛

It was so difficult to decide what pictures to take, and in the end I only took three; there is just too much to see! At the end of this post, though, I’ll be giving you the list of the 56 representations of the artists and artwork shown. It’s all just too interesting for me to give you just a regular old post about this puzzle.

Educational puzzles (which is what I consider this to be) make me so happy, and learning more about pop art and seeing the artwork reimagined or just paintings of the artists themselves was fascinating. I cannot seem to find the right words to tell you how much I loved this puzzle!

This tiny little section shows the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, and a rabbit sculpture fabricated by Jeff Koons. I’m a big fan of Keith Haring’s work, so of course his image was the first picture I wanted to take from the completed puzzle. The 32,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with Haring’s artwork, Double Retrospect, was the first one I considered assembling seven years ago when I made the decision to complete a VERY large piece count puzzle. Unfortunately at the time it was already out of print and unavailable. Of all the puzzles of that size available at the time, his artwork was the one that stood out and really excited me; although after assembling a different enormous puzzle I realize that his image would have been extremely difficult with the limited color palette and big blocks of solid color.

🎶Here I come to save the day!🎶 This is Andy Kaufman doing his famous rendition of the Mighty Mouse theme song on Saturday Night Live. I’m a comedy nerd as well as a proud puzzle geek, so this little section jumped right out at me and made me smile.

In this small section of the image (perhaps about 11% of the puzzle) are so many things to find. Of course Botticelli’s Venus jumps right out at you, but did you catch Monet’s Water Lilies? Or Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais? Bacchus by Caravaggio? Have you heard of A Bigger Splash by David Hockney? I hadn’t. Jackson Pollock is decorating a mushroom, and the man just to the left of him is the artist who created the image for this puzzle, Andrew Rae. There are even more just in this section, there’s so much to see and find – and it was so much fun!

This was so enjoyable, not only for the great quality puzzle but the subject matter as well. I loved looking for each of the artists or the artwork and found it to be educational as well as entertaining. Laurence King has quite a few puzzles like this by different artists, each one with a different subject; Freddie Mercury, Jane Austen, James Bond, The Harlem Renaissance, Dracula, Shakespeare, Frida Kahlo, Wes Anderson, The Story of Impressionism, and many more. My PADS is kicking into overdrive!

This puzzle is very highly recommended, I absolutely adored it.💖

Stay tuned for the list of artists and artwork represented in this image…

  1. Andy Warhol
  2. Campbell’s Soup Cans by Andy Warhol
  3. Yayoi Kusama
  4. Grayson Perry
  5. Niki de Saint Phalle
  6. Varvara Stepanova
  7. Venus by Botticelli
  8. Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais
  9. David by Michelangelo
  10. Salvador Dalí
  11. Rhinoceros by Albrecht Dürer
  12. Andy Kaufman
  13. Tracey Emin
  14. Balloon Dogs by Jeff Koons
  15. Rabbit sculptures by Jeff Koons
  16. The Wounded Deer by Frida Kahlo
  17. For the Love of God by Damien Hirst
  18. Jean-Michel Basquiat
  19. Pablo Picasso
  20. Water Lilies by Claude Monet
  21. The Son of Man by Rene Magritte
  22. La Tauromaquia by Francisco de Goya
  23. Little Yellow Horses and Little Blue Horse by Franz Marc
  24. Henri Matisse
  25. Viva la Vida, Watermelons by Frida Kahlo
  26. John Cage
  27. Keith Haring
  28. Marie-Thérèse Walter
  29. Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh
  30. The Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer
  31. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst
  32. Fountain by Marcel Duchamp
  33. A Bigger Splash by David Hockney
  34. Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe by Édouard Manet
  35. Portrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael
  36. The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai
  37. Catherine the Great
  38. Horse with Jockey: Horse Galloping on the Right Foot, the Back Left Foot Only Touching the Ground by Edgar Degas
  39. Capricho no. 39: Hasta su abuelo by Francisco de Goya
  40. Gilbert & George
  41. Tiger in a Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau
  42. Andrew Rae
  43. La recontre, ou “Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet” by Gustave Courbet
  44. Cornelia Parker
  45. Claude Monet
  46. Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough
  47. Bacchus by Caravaggio
  48. Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer
  49. Hugo Ball
  50. Jackson Pollock
  51. Triadisches Ballett by Oskar Schlemmer
  52. Chris Ofili
  53. Dismemberment, Site 1 by Anish Kapoor
  54. The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck
  55. Max Ernst the Birdman by Martin Sharp
  56. Leap into the Void by Yves Klein

Advent Calendar Part Deux…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling14 Comments

Hubby was getting some groceries at Aldi a couple of days ago, and brought this advent calendar home to me – do I have a fantastic husband or what? What a sweetie pie!

This set is exclusive to Aldi, and retails in the US for $9.99 – not too shabby! The box tells me the puzzles were manufactured in China, but I’m hopeful that they’ll be good quality. If the box is any indication, they may be pretty good; the box is thick and feels quite premium. If you’ve got an Aldi nearby they may have this set available.

There are twelve puzzles, 80 pieces each. You can see that I’ve opened the first section to take a peek, but I haven’t taken the pieces out of their plastic bag or started assembling any of them yet. I will soon though, with the number of puzzles already in my queue it’s time for me to get to assembling puzzles with holiday images already!

Those of you that have been here for a while may remember the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad advent calendar of puzzles from 2019 – it holds bad memories for me. I’m still mad at Ceaco about it! But this was a gift from hubby so I’ll have to put those memories out of my head and assemble these puzzles with no preconceived ideas about their quality.

It’s Part Deux of my assembling an advent calendar of jigsaw puzzles and I’m hoping the sequel is better than the original. (You know, like Aliens or The Godfather Part II or Terminator 2: Judgement Day)

The Ceaco advent calendar of puzzles that I assembled in 2019 seemed like a comedy of errors; out of twelve puzzles four of them were missing pieces, one had extra pieces, and there was one puzzle missing entirely and substituted with another that had already been assembled. And for a set of puzzles with so many quality problems to find it’s way into the hands of a jigsaw puzzle blogger was just so bizarre. I was glad to be able to warn people away from purchasing it though. It was unbelievably frustrating to deal with so many problems in one set, and the customer service I received was even more upsetting. Ceaco hasn’t gotten one penny of my puzzle budget since, and they’re still on the naughty list.

Here’s hoping that this newest advent calendar does a better job in the quality department, you know how much I enjoy little “one coffee” puzzles.

I’m looking forward to happy puzzling! 🧩💚

Postcard From Paris

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles13 Comments

Postcard From Paris – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

It’s a lovely apartment with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower, but it did not make for easy puzzling at all. It’s VERY brown. This one was a bit of a letdown for me as I really didn’t care for the image at all. Still, it feels like an accomplishment that I finally completed it.

I’ve got to be more selective about the MicroPuzzles that I assemble in the powder room and which ones need to stay here in the puzzle room. This one never should have left the bright lights that sit above my puzzle board, there was just not enough color. Or perhaps I should say there was not enough bright color and too many browns and muted colors. From now on if it doesn’t look colorful enough it’s staying right here!

The theme of this month’s subscription box was travel/international destinations. There were two travel themed puzzles and an aluminum luggage tag. One of the puzzles is double-sided…and thank goodness it was this one!

On the back is the image of a blank postcard. Normally it wouldn’t help much with the assembly since most of it is blank, but this puzzle came already assembled so that you could write your own message on the back before you took it apart – that way whatever you write would be helpful when putting it back together. Wanna see what I wrote?

.

.

.

.

.

I thought I’d send you all a virtual postcard. Happy puzzling to the entire Puzzle Posse! 🧩💚

Candy Calaveras

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Candy Calaveras by Randy Wollenmann – Wentworth – 40 pieces

This amazingly detailed and gorgeous image made for a bit of difficult puzzling, even at only 40 pieces. But it’s so beautiful and my love for the decorative skulls (calaveras) and my appreciation for the holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) made it even more fun, even with the tougher assembly.

The skulls are very cool, and the cactus is ok – but a taco and a chili? I’m not so sure about those two.

I enjoyed putting this little puzzle together; the bright colors and busyness of the image made it a little challenging, but having whimsy pieces makes it a bit easier. The odd shapes and the pieces that fit around them are always a good place to start if you’re having trouble with the image itself. Once you get a few pieces put together it becomes easier and before you know it you’ve got a completed puzzle. 🧩💚

The Day of the Dead is a two day Mexican holiday for remembering and praying for friends and family members who have died. I’m not of Mexican heritage, but I’ve always loved the meaning of the holiday and especially the traditional decorative skulls. The candy form, called sugar skulls (calaveras de azúcar) represent loved ones who have passed on and are used as an offering – they’re typically placed on an altar or a gravestone – to the spirit of the dead.

To me the skulls are beautiful, and what they represent is even more so. A day to remember the loved ones you’ve lost, what a wonderful holiday. To me, saying “Happy Day of the Dead” just seems wrong, so I’ll just send you good wishes today, and hope that the memories of your loved ones bring you happiness.💕

Skull “Beauty of Flowers”

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles9 Comments

Skull “Beauty of Flowers” – Winston Puzzles – 300 pieces

My sweet, loving, darling husband got me this puzzle for my birthday this year – bless him. He knows how much I love the decorated skulls and what the Day of the Dead holiday is all about, what a thoughtful hubby I have. 💕

It’s just too bad this beautiful image was on this puzzle; unfortunately terrible quality wooden puzzles seem to be popping up everywhere. I wish that weren’t the case, but it is.

When I saw the box I suspected it wouldn’t be good, and unfortunately I was correct; beware wooden puzzles with no brand name shown! Although the puzzle was ordered from a website called “Winston Puzzles” there is no brand name on the box, there is no piece count, image name, or artist credit either. The website said this puzzle was 170-210 pieces; to get an accurate number I had to count them by hand, and they were off by quite a bit – there were 300 pieces. Sigh.

There are a bunch of whimsy pieces, but they have no relation to the image at all. They’re just shapes someone thought were cute or interesting; and because it’s a wooden puzzle they were able to cut them out. So disappointing.

As I was sorting the pieces I got a sliver of wood stuck in my finger, the puzzle wasn’t sanded or sealed properly. When I put the puzzle away after it was finished and photographed my board had little chips of wood everywhere all over the fabric, that has never happened with a wooden puzzle before. In addition, there were little bubbles underneath the image on the top of the pieces – it wasn’t attached to the wood correctly.

Many of the edge pieces didn’t connect at all, a BIG pet peeve of mine. It’s so frustrating to accidentally brush against pieces and have them come apart. I wish I had enjoyed the assembly more. It was a difficult image, and the quality of the puzzle itself made it even harder.

I do NOT recommend Winston Puzzles, please spend your puzzle budget elsewhere. There are many reputable wooden puzzle companies that make beautiful, quality wooden puzzles that you will enjoy much more.

I always appreciate the gift of a puzzle, whether wooden or cardboard, even if the quality isn’t up to my somewhat snobby standards. I love that he tried to find an image that I would enjoy, and truly do appreciate the gift, regardless of it’s quality.

Hubby has been informed, very gently, that there is a list of approved puzzle companies and should he have questions, he can always ask about a puzzle company in general. He knows how much I love jigsaw puzzles, and that even if they’re not always fabulous I absolutely appreciate the thought that goes into the gift of a puzzle.

I love my hubby to the moon and back – and he tried, that’s what counts. 💖