Puzzles in 2023, Jan - June

 

Although it's been a while since we've posted about puzzles, they never stopped being part of my daily routine.  There is something deeply comforting and satisfying about that.  So far this year we've put together eleven, missing only a few nights (not counting when we were from home).  This is a far cry from 2020's record, in which eleven was merely the fourth quarter!  In the face of considerable distraction and just plain life, this pleasantly addictive family habit has (by now) produced a visual record of our interests as a couple.  I thought you might like to see what the first 6 months of 2023 has turned out.

The year began with a puzzle certainly attributable to the big game interest in the family:  me.  Not to mention a rare lover of cats (not to mention tigers: someday I'll share my tiger skin rug story!).  Photographed January 25, this is a very recent acquisition from the Bits & Pieces catalog.  The moment I saw it I wanted it.

Bits & Pieces 1K  Jungle Queen

It was as good as I hoped.  Next up, photo'd February 1st, was one that (surprisingly) Geo liked as much as I did.  I swear, he is getting more horse-tolerant than I could ever have anticipated!  Much credit must go to the painter, John Sloane.  Of many puzzle-painters in the Bits & Pieces catalog, I find some I dislike (too fuzzy, too unrealistic) -- and some I love (good detail, good textures).  Sloane gets his harness right, bless him, and his horse conformation isn't too bad either.

Bits & Pieces 1K  All Aboard

Photo'd February 8th is this classic, an image I've known since high school (i.e. ~ 45 years ago).  It was painted by Robert Bateman, an internationally famous wildlife artist.  However, the puzzle is recent;  it entered our collection approximately 8 years ago, almost certainly from Peight's.

Cobble Hill 1K  Coyote in Winter Sage

 Photographed Feb 10th, this big game puzzle by RealTree was a completely different experience from the Coyote.  (Note that the photo date does not mean a puzzle was finished exactly on that date -- only that it was finished before that date.)  RealTree thoughtfully provided a poster, something that puzzle makers are now starting to do.  But that did not make this one any easier.

RealTree 1K  Open Season

I remember it as distinctly difficult, taking much longer than 2 days.  It was hard but unfortunately not in a good way.  The photomontage process blended images strangely, and it repeated texture and color a lot.  While my interests undoubtedly inspired the purchase of this puzzle,... from Cabela's I think,... I won't be getting another one of the series.

Which is a pity, because I love deer.

RealTree 1K  Open Season  Close up

Next, photographed Feb 16th (a more realistic date -- a puzzle this size would normally take a week) is a lovely lake scene.  We are canoeists, so this was a natural.  This puzzle was purchased, again, from Peight's Store in Kish Valley, within the past 3 years.

Cobble Hill 1K  Nature's Mirror

Needing a change of pace, for the next 3 weeks I went back to the great Ravensburgers, and tackled a 15-er.  I'm not sure when or where this one came from;  it could have been in the original Danish stock (1995-6) or the ~ ten years afterwards.  Photographed March 8.  Clearly I was past the overexposure of this scene from my five-grander puzzle of 2021 -- see the Five Grander.  Clearly also, 1500-piece puzzles are in our comfort zone;  we start at 500 and go up from there.  One-granders (1000-pc) and 15-ers are the most common in the collection.

Ravensburger 1500  Sella Pass, the Dolomites

Confusing dates somewhat, this next puzzle was photographed the same day, March 8.  I remember it took very little time -- we blazed through it.  This little charmer has been in our collection for quite a long while, several decades.  It was probably picked up in a Hallmark Store somewhere, possibly in the 2000s.  Springbok is indeed a gold standard.  You have to know that my husband is a wargamer and has narrowly missed being a collector of tin soldiers.  Me, I am entranced at the sheer skill of the sculptor, Ron Hinote.  Yes, there's a horse, but it's the delightful historical detail of the soldiers that transfixes both of us.  We have worked this puzzle many times:  "High replay value."

Springbok  500  Military Miniatures

Next, consuming a little under 3 weeks  -- March 8th to March 24th -- came a pair of train puzzles.  These we can squarely blame on Geo.  I have come to like them, however, probably on the theory that a good puzzle is never bad.  

SunsOut  1K  Bayou Ramos

 Their colors are exquisite, and Bayou Ramos has birds.  Chasing the Daylight features a small light plane, which is what really ties it to Geo, who once was a pilot.

SunsOut  1K   Chasing the Daylight

Obviously the next puzzle, photographed March 24, can be put down to my own desires.  We had gotten it over the winter of 2020 - 2021 off eBay (yes! eBay has marvelous puzzles) and worked it in January of '21.  Again to my surprise, George liked it as much as I did.  This was largely due to its feel.  These old Gold Seal puzzles, made in the 40s and 50s, are delightfully thick and overbuilt.  If you can find one that has been well-preserved, you are in for a treat.   Not only are they strongly made, the picture often has historical value, as I think this one does.  It's not all that realistic (the neck-roping lasso is held merely in his hand) but the composition is thrilling.

Gold Seal  500  Palomino

Palomino was a warming-up treat for me, a little taste of quick success before I buried myself in an extremely large puzzle.  Somehow one can tell when the time is right to start a truly big one.  I knew I'd be involved on this next case for a long time.  As it turned out, the puzzle lasted from late March to June 22nd:  more than a quarter of the year.  One of those months saw no work on it at all, since we were gone -- May, --- the rest went into losing myself amoungst the amazing colors and textures of Friedrich Nerly the Elder's masterpiece painting of the Grand Canal of Venice.  Nerly (1807-1878) was born in Germany but eventually moved to Italy and Venice, becoming one of the finest artists of his time.   He painted this view several times, using different hours of the day and season.  This time (I'd worked this puzzle once before) I researched the artist, a first.  You can do that with Google these days.

Ravensburger  3K   Grand Canal by Nerly

This is one of the few times I've shot an unfinished puzzle.  Typically this happens with the 3- and 5-granders, the largest ones we possess.

Upon its finishing, a large puzzle sits for more than several days.  One can't bear to tear it down yet. 

Ravensburger  3K   Grand Canal

We finished another much smaller puzzle while this one was still sitting.  It was another wolf painting.  You'll get to see it when I take up puzzle blogging again.  Just think:  we've got all of 2021 and 2022 to cover!  Thirty-one and thirty-seven puzzles, respectively, less the giant 5-grander which I've already blogged about (link above, after picture 7).

This photo shows the sheer size of a Ravensburger 3-grander.  The collection has four 3Ks and two 5Ks.  I wish they made 4Ks, but I've never seen one.

Here's a link to the fourth quarter of 2020's puzzles, which includes at its end a list of the other 3 quarters:  Puzzles: The fourth ten of 2020.

You can spot a couple of Breyer Buffalo on the end shelves, which should give another idea of scale.  I love my buffalo.  I conga them.  We'll see if BreyerFest shows me another I can't resist!