Way back in college until I graduated, I would often find myself bored, especially during those times when I really needed to save money. So these jigsaw puzzles took lots of my time when I needed to do some thinking and relaxation. Until now, I still have these jigsaw puzzles in my place.

The Napoleon puzzle is the largest and the first one I ever assembled. It took me 3 weeks to finish joining its 2,000 pieces. I'm not really very much into history, but I've always thought that this painting is very striking.

The second one I finished is "Ask Me No More" puzzle, which features the man kissing the hand of a woman in white gown in a balcony. It has 1,500 pieces and it took me 2 weeks to finish it. My friend Sealdi was the one who picked this when we were in the Puzzles Store. My friend Brian, a few years later, critiqued the painting, and pointed out how the woman overpowers the man in the painting--how small he seems as compared to her. I thought that was a very good observation. It makes me want to take a second look at various paintings as criticize the structure and positions of the subjects.

The Van Gogh's Sunflower puzzle and the Still life table with fruits Puzzle are very special because they are handmade and has "paint texture" on them. They were easy to assemble--it took me less than 2 hours to assemble them. I love Van Gogh and his eccentricity.

The early Map of the World has 1,000 pieces, and it took me a week to finish it. I found this special because I thought it would be fun to have a map in my room which somewhat connects me to the world and its past. The Latin inscriptions on the painting were also attractive to me since I learned Latin in college.

My most favorite of these is "The Meeting at the Stairs" puzzle, which has 1,500 pieces, and it took me 2 weeks to finish it. I bought this during the time I was studying the Arthurian/Romantic Literature, where the knights are the main characters in the stories, and the women are put into pedestal, where extra-marital affairs seem to be the fad (hence the Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur hype). It also depicts the times when Christianity was being preached in Europe through pilgrimages--which reminds me of Chaucer and his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. The painting struck me as a good reminder how art and literature and even history are tightly knit.

These jigsaw puzzles were all framed by my mum because she frames pictures in her photography business.

It has been four years since the last time I finished a jigsaw puzzle. Maybe when I transfer to another place and has lots of time, I would do another one.

I'm eyeing the Guernica painting of Picasso--a black and white painting, which has been transformed into a jigsaw puzzle with 3,500 pieces! :)

Wish me luck on that! Hehehe!