Hi, folks!
This blog has fallen a bit to the wayside as I've busied myself with the business of learning how to run a one-woman art business...and there's still a lot to learn, but I'm trying to chisel away some time to keep this space up-to-date with studio happenings and exciting things.
As you may or may not know, I am a HUGE fan of jigsaw puzzles-- like, it's not unusual for people around our house to finish a couple of big puzzles a week while sitting around and chatting or singing after dinnertime. Last year, our new neighbors brought over a wooden jigsaw puzzle for us to try. It was such a new type of puzzle experience, and I was hooked. And then I thought: why are a lot of the wooden puzzle images kind of...well, boring? And the next thing I thought was: why am I not making art for puzzles? If anyone knows what makes a fun puzzle, it's me! I've done about fifty million of them!
So I made it my mission to get my art on some wooden puzzles. There aren't as many wooden puzzle manufacturers as you might guess, and it was important to me that the puzzle pieces were thick with a nice hand-feel (a quick aside: who else hates the expression "hand-feel"?), didn't have a grainy look to the image, and were made in the USA. Anthology Puzzles checked all the boxes, and they were open to collaborating with me, a relatively new artist and lifetime puzzle enthusiast. It was the perfect match! To date, there are NINE of my puzzle designs available for purchase on the Anthology Puzzles website: www.anthologypuzzles.com.
I can't tell you how thrilled this makes me. I'm aiming to have these puzzles available for purchase right here on the Mandy Warhol site in time for the holidays too, so stay tuned!
But in the meantime, as promised, here are five things I love about wooden jigsaw puzzles, in case you haven't done them before and need some convincing!
1. They feel really nice. The pieces are solid, and there is something about moving them around that feels more akin to playing a fancy game with wooden pieces than just doing a regular cardboard puzzle.
2. They smell really nice. No kidding-- they smell like every Girl Scout campout I ever went to, a product of laser-cutting the wood that gives you a whiff of campfire each time you open the box. I actually don't love camping, but I do love the smell of a good campfire now and again!
3. They're basically heirlooms. These are puzzles you'll do over and over and pass onto your kids, or somebody else's kids! They're that nice!
4. They make great gifts. They're unique, and also a fun activity for people to do together or by themselves. What's not to love?
5. They develop skills for adults and kids. Stick with me here: jigsaw puzzles in general are good for building memory, persistence, social skills, developing fine motor skills, independence, problem-solving, increasing your attention span...and add to that a nice tactile feel and you've got yourself a pretty fantastic activity for people with a wide range of ages and abilities.
...and BONUS: doing wooden jigsaw puzzles makes you look cool! 😎
What do YOU love about puzzles, wooden or otherwise? Pop me a line in the comments!
Mandy