Just Clowning Around!

756 Pieces, with 49 "Painted Figurals"

Cutting: Genuine Finnish Birch

Approximate Size: 36 inches x 12 inches

Completed on: July 24, 2010

Original Artwork: "Clowning Around," Copyright Royce McClure

"Just Clowning Around" is my largest puzzle cut to date, and was displayed at the 10th Annual Puzzle Parley in Salem, Massachusetts during August, 2010.

The artwork used was cut from a large poster I purchased which features a school of brilliant, colorful clown fish.

The bottom of the puzzle is adorned with crystal gems to create swaying seagrass for the clown fish to swim above.

I made my cuts in more of a "curled" style to give an appearance of moving seawater.

This puzzle was an exploration away from my typical technique of creating Figurals which interact with the artwork and tell a story within it. In "Just Clowning Around," a school of clown fish swim about, and a multitude of clown and balloon Figurals have jumped into the puzzle and have become caught up in the current. They end up positioned in such locations and orientations that they absorb, or are "painted by" the colors from the underlying artwork. I refer to this technique in my puzzles as "Figural Painting."

For instance, here is a "Complex Figural" where the Figural has been removed from the puzzle. It's location in the artwork has given definition to the Figural itself, specifically adding colors to the balloons, and to the clowns' costumes. The Figurals have been "painted" by the artwork.

And here is the Figural when placed back within the puzzle:

Here is an overall view of where the Figurals are located, with some yellow paper placed under the puzzle to highlight their empty spaces. Every single Figural in this puzzle is "painted."