Home Posts tagged "puzzle" (Page 13)

Tag: puzzle

Puzzle: Da Vinci’s World


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 48cm x 68cm
Producer: Educa, Art Collection series, 13050
Artist: Leonardo Da Vinci
Notes: Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of “unquenchable curiosity” and “feverishly inventive imagination”.

According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and “his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote”. Marco Rosci states that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Chateau Chenonceaux, France


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 69.85cm x 54.61cm
Producer: Golden, Guild Puzzle, Tony Craddock / Tony Stone, ISBN: 0-307-04710-5
Notes: The Chateau de Chenonceau is a manor house near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire departement of the Loire Valley in France. It was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century. The current manor was designed by the French Renaissance architect Philibert Delorme.

An architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance, Chateau de Chenonceau and its gardens are open to the public. Other than the Royal Palace of Versailles, Chenonceau is the most visited chateau in France. [Wiki]

Puzzle: La Roche Courbon Castle, France


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles, Hasbro, 2007

Notes: Chateau de la Roche Courbon is a large chateau, developed from an earlier castle, in the Charente-Maritime departement of France. It is in the commune of Saint-Porchaire between Saintes and Rochefort.

A castle was built around 1475 by Jehan de Latour, on site which had been inhabited since prehistoric times. In the 17th century, the Courbon family, which had occupied the castle for two centuries, transformed it into a more comfortable residence. More alterations were made in the 18th century, but it was eventually sold in 1817 and then abandoned. It was purchased in 1920 by Paul Chenereau, who restored the chateau and its gardens. The chateau is still owned and inhabited by his descendants.

The gardens include orchard, flower garden, geometrical flower beds and lawns surrounding a small lake (‘mirror pool’). The River Bruant flows through the gardens, feeding the water features. Beyond that, an ornamental staircase leads to higher ground, on the far side of the river. [Wiki]

Puzzle: European Montage by Jim Zuckerman

European Montage, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Artist: Jim Zuckerman
Notes: Photomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not use film, is realized today through image-editing software. [Wiki]

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Puzzle: Fairy Dance


Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 60.96cm x 45.72cm
Producer:  Ceaco, Meiklejohn Graphics, 2003, #2333-14

Notes: The folklores of the British Isles contain a wealth of fairy lore, including the idea from which fairy rings take their name: the phenomena result from the dancing of fairies. In 19th-century Wales, fairies were almost invariably described as dancing in a group when encountered, and in Scotland and Wales in the late 20th century, stories about fairy rings were still common; some Welsh even claimed to have joined a fairy dance. Victorian folklorists regarded fairies and witches as related, based in part on the idea that both were believed to dance in circles. These revels are particularly associated with moonlit nights, the rings only becoming visible to mortals the following morning. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Peacock Daze by Josephine Wall


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer:  Mega Brands America, 2008, #50884
Artist: Josephine Wall

Notes:  Deep in the heart of a rose filled garden, overpowered by an intoxicating perfume, a maiden is transported into a world of daydreams. As she drifts into a trance like state, she imagines herself adorned with peacocks and exotic flowers. She enjoys her fleeting moments of escapism. [Josephine Wall’s site]

Puzzle: Heart and Soul by Josephine Wall


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer:  Mega Brands America, 2008, #50884
Artist: Josephine Wall

Notes:  The butterfly maiden looks inquiringly up at the heavens, soul-searching as she watches the clouds form layer upon layer of strange and wonderful lands.Beneath her multicoloured, gossamer headdress beats the heart of a lion offering strength to the gentle souls in flight.A swirl of flowers forming a garland around the “Queen of the Jungle”, gradually blends into sea and stars.This transitional plane is the meeting place between the butterfly’s ethereal and gentle world and the lion’s proud and powerful domain. The outcome of this meeting is a perfect blend for life. [Josephine Wall’s site]

Puzzle: Hôtel de Ville, Paris, France


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 80.65cm x 56.2cm
Producer:  The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, It’s Framed series, 2004, #80630

Notes: The Hotel de Ville in Paris, France, is the building housing the City of Paris’s administration.

In July 1357, Etienne Marcel, provost of the merchants (i.e. mayor) of Paris, bought the so-called maison aux piliers (“House of Pillars”) in the name of the municipality on the gently sloping shingle beach which served as a river port for unloading wheat and wood and later merged into a square, the Place de Greve, a place where Parisians often gathered, particularly for public executions. Ever since 1357, the City of Paris’s administration has been located on the same location where the Hotel de Ville stands today. Before 1357, the city administration was located in the so-called parloir aux bourgeois near the Chatelet.

Since the French Revolution, the building has been the scene of a number of historical events, notably the proclamation of the French Third Republic in 1870 and the famous speech by Charles de Gaulle on 25 August 1944 during the Liberation of Paris when he greeted the crowd from a front window. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Iris – Keeper of the Rainbow by Josephine Wall


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer:  Mega Brands America, 2008, #50884
Artist: Josephine Wall

Notes:  Throughout the ages, the rainbow has been the symbol of hope, a promise of better things to come. The ancient Greeks personified the rainbow as the goddess Iris, the favourite handmaiden and messenger of Hera, the queen of the heavenly court of Olympus. Carried by her shimmering wings, Iris travels so swiftly that mortals can see only the trail of her rainbow-coloured passage across the sky. [Josephine Wall’s site]

Puzzle: My Lady Unicorn by Josephine Wall


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer:  Mega Brands America, 2008, #50884
Artist: Josephine Wall

Notes:  All Unicorns are special creatures with magical powers beyond our imagination, but on a distant world lives a species called ladycorns! These beautiful and mysterious beings are able to communicate either by voice or with an array of musical sounds created by a harp like growth on their forehead. Their world is one of tranquillity and peace where nature is revered and the balance of the universe is maintained. [Josephine Wall’s site]

Puzzle: Nanette’s Cottage by Thomas Kinkade


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 69cm x 51cm
Producer:  Ceaco, 2009, #3310-90
Artist: Thomas Kinkade

Notes:  Thomas has placed a total of 25 N’s within this painting in special commemoration and tribute to his wife Nanette, for her partnership in his 25 years as a published artist. The inspiration for this painting came about  from a cottage just like this, in which Thomas and Nanette lived in, in England when they were first married. Their wedding date is May 2, 1982. [Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Dragon Spell


Size: 300 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 35.56cm
Author: Meiklejohn Graphics, UK/Applejack Licensing
Producer: Ceaco, 3 Glow in the Dark Jigsaw Puzzles, # 3562-2
Notes: Evocation is the act of calling or summoning a spirit, demon, god or other supernatural agent, in the Western mystery tradition. Comparable practices exist in many religions and magical traditions.

Conjuration in traditional and most contemporary usage refers to a magical act of invoking spirits or using incantations or charms to cast magical spells. In the context of legerdemain, it may also refer to the performance of illusion or magic tricks for show. This article discusses mainly the original and primary usage, describing acts of a supernatural or paranormal nature.

The word conjuration (from Latin conjure, conjurare, to “swear together”) can be interpreted in several different ways: as an invocation or evocation (the latter in the sense of binding by a vow); as an exorcism; and as an act of producing effects by magical means. [Wiki]


Puzzle: Blue Dragon by Richard Kelly

Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 30.48cm x 40.64cm
Artist: Richard Kelly
Producer: Ceaco, 3 Glow in the Dark Jigsaw Puzzles, # 3562-2
Notes: A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and which is ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan, Korea and other East Asian countries.

The two traditions may have evolved separately, but have influenced each to a certain extent, particularly with the cross-cultural contact of recent centuries.

The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon, which in turn comes from Latin draconem (nominative draco) meaning “huge serpent, dragon,” from the Greek word δράκων, drakon (genitive drakontos, δράκοντος) “serpent, giant seafish”, which is believed to have come from an earlier stem drak-, a stem of derkesthai, “to see clearly,” from Proto-Indo-European derk- “to see” or “the one with the (deadly) glance.” The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, and this usage was also current in English up to the 18th century. [Wiki]


Puzzle: Spellbound by Myles Pinkney

Size: 100 pieces
Dimensions: 22.86cm x 17.78cm
Artist: Myles Pinkney, 2003
Producer: Ceaco, 3 Glow in the Dark Jigsaw Puzzles, # 3562-2
Box: photo
Notes: Spellbound

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.

[Emily Jane Bronte]

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Puzzle: Holland Tulips


Size: 300 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 35.56cm
Author: M.Thonig / H.Armstrong Roberts
Producer: Golden Guild
Notes: Tulip mania or tulipomania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed.

At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. The event was popularized in 1841 by the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written by British journalist Charles Mackay. According to Mackay, at one point 12 acres of land were offered for a Semper Augustus bulb. Mackay claims that many such investors were ruined by the fall in prices, and Dutch commerce suffered a severe shock. Although Mackay’s book is a classic that is widely reprinted today, his account is sometimes contested. Some modern scholars feel that the mania was not quite as extraordinary as Mackay described. [Wiki]

Song of Vidal by Kim Wiggins


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Artist: Kim Wiggins – Growing up in Southern New Mexico, Kim Wiggins began his art career sculpting miniatures of the wildlife around him. In 1989, Wiggins deliberately leapt from an impressionist style to the dynamic, dramatic expressionist style for which he is known today, populating his canvases with ribbons of color, bulbous clouds, anthropomorphic mountains, sinewy trees and distorted houses. [Puzzle box]
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox
Notes: “Discovering the joys of life is the Song of the Valle Vidal. If you were the scarecrow, would you see yourself as little more than an empty shirt on a set of cross-members? Or would you see yourself as guardian of one of the most beautiful places on earth, New Mexico’s Valle Vidal? We have the choice to be stewards of those around us by breathing life into them.The birds on the scarecrow sing a symphony of the inner beauty found in each of us. The flowers are life springing up around us as we reach out to others. In knowing your purpose in life, you really do come to life.”  [Greenwich Workshop site]

Puzzle: Berner Oberland, Switzerland

Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles, 2008, #04962-U24
Notes: The Bernese Oberland (Bernese Highlands) is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps. [Wiki]

Beautiful photos of the region: http://www.berneroberland.be/

Puzzle: Istria, Pula, Croatia

Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles, 2008, #04962-Z11
Notes: Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula. Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. Pula has also been Istria’s administrative center since ancient Roman times.

The Pula Arena is the name of the amphitheatre located in Pula, Croatia. The Arena is the only remaining Roman amphitheatre to have four side towers and with all three Roman architectural orders entirely preserved. It was constructed in 27 BC – 68 AD and is among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the World. A rare example among the 200 Roman surviving amphitheatres, it is also the best preserved ancient monument in Croatia.

The amphitheatre remained in use until the 5th century, when emperor Honorius prohibited gladiatorial combats. It was not until 681 that combat between convicts, particularly those sentenced to death, and wild animals was forbidden. In the Middle Ages the interior of the Arena was used for grazing, occasional tournaments by the Knights of Malta and medieval fairs. General Auguste de Marmont, as French governor of the Illyrian Provinces, started the restoration of the arena. This was continued in 1816 by the Ticinese architect Pietro Nobile, commissioned by the emperor Francis I of Austria.

In 1932, it was adapted for theatre productions, military ceremonies and public meetings. In its present state it still seats some 5,000 spectators. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Raising the Dragon by Myles Pinkney

Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 61cm x 46cm
Artist: Myles Pinkney
Producer: Ceaco, Glow in the Dark series, 2004
Notes: Looking at a Myles Pinkney painting is like seeing an entire movie in a single frame. First the image catches your eye, then you notice additional nuances as you travel around- and within- each painting. It’s not unusual for someone to have a print for years, and then to suddenly see some new detail that had somehow previously escaped their detection.

Myles Pinkney’s paintings also depict a larger universe. The shape of it becomes more apparent with each new painting you see. Twisted logic, incredible detail, and a quirky sense of humor all combine to create a world of infinite impossibilities into which the viewer is drawn again and again. [Reno Goodale, Biography on the Myles Pinkney site]