Tag: Educational Puzzles

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

Dinosaur Alphabet

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Dinosaur Alphabet by Karen Rossi – Ravensburger – 60 pieces

This artwork isn’t my favorite color scheme, it’s slightly washed out and dull – but it was a fun little kids puzzle that went together quickly. As an added bonus I learned the names of a few dinosaurs that I’d never heard of before. I just love learning new things! 😁

It had a loose fit, but has also been a very well-loved puzzle that seems to have been assembled many times. The previous owners seem to have been quite organized too. There was an X written inside the box, and an X on every piece; if piece(s) got loose you would know which puzzle they belong to and which box to put them in – great idea for kids puzzles if you ask me.

The last three letters were dinosaurs I’d never heard of before. I’ve done my share of dinosaur puzzles and I don’t recall ever seeing these names. Very cool!

Many of the words that the letters represented were put into the image in the middle to pull it all together. Overall just a great puzzle for kids; the image, the information, and the quality.

Unusual Animals

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles14 Comments

Unusual Animals by Allison Strine – Buffalo – 500 pieces

This was absolutely my kind of puzzle image – bright colors, collage, interesting artwork, informative, great quality – it had it all!

Do you ever have a puzzle that you know you’re going to love? Before you even put two pieces together you know it’s gonna be great? This was one of those puzzles! It was as fun and beautiful as I knew it would be – isn’t it fantastic when that happens? 💖

Excellent quality, as per usual for Buffalo. Lately I’ve mostly been purchasing Ravensburger and Buffalo puzzles; I’m too cranky these days to deal with crappy quality. I know when I buy a Buffalo puzzle that they care about whether or not their puzzles are entertaining and well made, and it is most definitely appreciated.

The color of both the background and the spider jumped out at me while sorting, and this was the first section I assembled. I wouldn’t want a Black Widow spider anywhere near me in the real world, but don’t mind at all it showing up next to all the other unusual animals. 🕸

I love all the information provided for each animal. Who has heard of an axolotl before? If you check out some images online you’ll see that they have the cutest faces (but they’re not brightly colored at all). Very unusual indeed.

This one I’ve definitely heard of before – there’s a whole family story about this bird – and we talk about the Blue-Footed Booby when we think something going on is ridiculous, or a waste of time.

When I was young (probably around 10 or so) my father was watching a documentary on tv about this bird, and he made me and my sisters come downstairs and watch it with him. We absolutely did not want to. Mom and dad had a “discussion” about forcing us to watch it; dad said it was educational so we should “learn something” and mom said it was stupid to make us watch it if we didn’t want to.

I don’t really remember any actual information about this bird, just the situation of being made to watch a documentary we weren’t interested in – and of course the bird’s ridiculous sounding name. It’s funny what memories stick with you, isn’t it?

The artwork by Allison Strine was excellent for puzzling, and both interesting and educational. If there are more of her puzzles out there anything like this one – I want them.

If you see this puzzle out in the wild, and you’re so inclined, I highly recommend adopting it and bringing it home. I don’t regret it, and in fact loved every single piece. 💝

Tour the States

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Tour the States by Craighton Berman – Buffalo – 300 pieces

This puzzle was very quick for someone who knows the geography of the US, if you know where the state is you know where the piece goes. I’m certain if there was a map of another continent I don’t know as well as North America it wouldn’t have been as quick to go together. I loved the bright colors and excellent quality.

The northeast was the hardest to memorize when we were learning all the states in school, at least it was for me. All those little states up there took the most time to commit to memory.

Ok, I understand the gator and Louisiana, it’s swampy and perfect for alligators. But why in the world is it eating a banana? Am I missing something?

I’d never heard of the “hit” YouTube video until I put this puzzle together. Honestly, I haven’t looked it up to watch it either but it must have been quite popular to turn into an online store and have a puzzle made up from this image. Have any of you heard of this before?

The Nineteenth Amendment

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

The Nineteenth Amendment – Cobble Hill – 1000 pieces

This was an amazing puzzle to assemble, and the minute I was finished I wanted to take it apart and assemble it all over again. Before I started the box was put away along with the poster that comes with it; I knew I wanted the assembly experience to last longer. So many words to assemble – it was so much fun!

Cobble Hill puzzles have always been very good quality, and this one was no different. I love the linen textured paper, the random cut of the pieces, and the beautiful image reproduction. The fit is usually quite good as well, the fit on this one was excellent. Overall just a wonderful puzzle with a great image that made for an extremely entertaining assembly.

Not interested in women’s rights or information about the American suffrage movement? You should probably stop reading here. It was a fun, great-quality puzzle. If that’s all you wanted to know, have a nice day. The rest of this post is not really puzzle related, it’s about the the suffragettes and what they did and said.

Did you know that for two and half years “The Silent Sentinels” (shown above) picketed in front of the White House for the suffrage movement? Nearly 2,000 women took their turns picketing – they were actually the very first group to ever picket the White House. Many of them were harrassed, arrested, and unjustly treated by both local and federal authorities – including force feeding, torture, and physical abuse.

Here’s another little tidbit for you….did you know that the last state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment was Mississippi? Did you know that happened in 1984? Sixty-five years after it was passed by Congress. What the actual hell Mississippi? Sigh.

Susan B. Anthony is probably the best known suffragette, and she was the first female citizen to be depicted on a U.S. coin. There were thirteen women whose images were shown in this puzzle, it was difficult choosing which ones to show close up. I choose Susan B. Anthony because she is the most well known – and because this is a great quote.

Although many black women worked alongside white women in the movement, they were definitely not treated as equals. Frances Watkins Harper was one who called them out on their racism, and was not afraid to be confrontational. This quote, from a speech she gave at the 1866 National Women’s Rights Convention, called out white women for their lack of female solidarity across the racial divide. Black men were granted the right to vote by the fifteenth amendment, but black women – even in the suffragette movement – were largely ignored and dismissed and effectively banned from voting until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This quote from Lucy Stone speaks volumes, and still rings very true today – more than 125 years after her death. Although it seems to me that if the women of today knew and truly understood what those who came before went through so that we could enjoy all of the freedoms we have – they wouldn’t behave as if some tiny slight was stomping on their freedom when they don’t get their way.

Just a random opinion from an old lady who remembers that in my own lifetime women in the US weren’t allowed to have credit cards in their own name and could be fired for becoming pregnant – or for not sleeping with the boss.