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Custom Puzzle Craft Annual Puzzle #6

This is the sixth and last annual auction of a wooden jigsaw puzzle made by me in my Annual Puzzle Auction series. This puzzle, Golden Dragon #2,is  derived from a painting of a dragon by K. Chin, featuring the sixth K. Chin Dragon image I've been able to locate.


  Golden Dragon #2

 About 14 3/8" by 24 7/8"
Long Round cutting style
About 1010 pieces including nine figurals and Signature piece (will post exact count later)

                                                       
Green Dragon
Imperial Silver Dragon
Royal Dragon
Golden Dragon
Celestial Dragon
Golden Dragon #2
GreenImperialRedGoldCelestialGold2

Green Dragon
  I was initially drawn to K. Chin's art by a picture of a dragon I saw on the web in early 2000. I later found out the print was originally titled Celestial Green Dragon and did not have a unicorn in the lower left. Later, the unicorn was added, and prints of it were sold as Imperial Dragon and the Celestial Unicorn. This image was the basis for the third puzzle I ever sold, puzzle #23, Green Dragon, in May 2000 (100 Puzzles Project puzzle #2). At the time I sold the first puzzle, I had not come across either name used by K. Chin, so Green Dragon was the name I used and continued to use.

Imperial Silver Dragon
  I later came across  a large untitled print of what I was told by K. Chin's sons was titled Imperial Silver Dragon. I later saw these prints titled as either Celestial Imperial Dragon or Imperial Celestial Dragon. Again, the first puzzle was sold before learning the other titles, so Imperial Silver Dragon was the name I used and continued to use. Or just a nickname, Silver Dragon. There is something about K. Chin's dragon paintings that are so full of flow and energy! The first Silver Dragon puzzle was cut and sold in November 2000 (100 Puzzles Project puzzle #7) and was the first puzzle with some Creative style cutting although primitive by today's standards, and the first puzzle with the appearance of my Observer figural.

Royal Dragon
  Also in the early going, I came across a picture of a Red Dragon. K. Chin's sons referred to is as such, although the print was titled Royal Dragon and was the name I used and continued to use. The first puzzle I made with Royal Dragon was in May 2001 (was not introduced / sold via the 100 Puzzles Project).

These first three images, Green Dragon, Imperial Silver Dragon and Royal Dragon were all published as lithographs by K. Chin and in some quantity, and some cases in more than one size. These prints occasionally  appear on eBay. Over the years I've had my eyes out for additional K. Chin dragon images, but  came up empty handed. I knew  at least one more image existed as a less attractive dragon picture (St. George and the Dragon) as shown in a picture of K. Chin (see below). St. George is holding a paint brush!. Also, K. Chin's sons recalled there being two other dragon paintings: another one similar to the Imperial Silver Dragon  and one referred to as a Golden Dragon.

StGeorge
  St. George and the Dragon picture upper left.

Golden Dragon
 In early 2013, I found an original K. Chin dragon oil painting on eBay! I won the auction. The dragon was golden, but was not the Golden Dragon K. Chin's sons knew about. So I decided to this one, Golden Dragon. As this dragon had three class in the front of each foot instead of four, I figured this painting might have been the first one K. Chin had done, or certainly an early one. I made a puzzle from this image later in 2013 and sold it as the third Annual Auction Puzzle. Golden Dragon has a lot of dark areas around the dragon not shown in the image here, the dark areas were included the 2013 puzzle.

Celestial Dragon
  Not long after I acquired Golden Dragon, I received contact from the owner of another K. Chin dragon painting, located in NYC. The fifth dragon! In consultation with K. Chin's sons I named this one Celestial Dragon. I later worked out an agreement with the owner of the painting for the right to use the Celestial Dragon image for the fourth Annual Auction Puzzle in 2014 - limited to an edition of one. I hired budding movie maker, Michael Holcomb (www.italywithmichael.com) of lived near the owner to visit the owner of the painting and take photos for me.

Golden Dragon #2
  Two years later, another dragon emerged! In August 2015 I received an email from an owner of two K. Chin paintings saying that she "might" be interested in selling them, and that one of them was a dragon! Long story short, by late 2015 I purchased the painting, another beautiful K. Chin dragon oil painting, quite a bit larger than the first Golden Dragon painting. I've decided there is enough gold in the dragon to dub it as Golden Dragon #2. I took many pictures of the painting under different lighting using a Nikon D7000 and eventually created a digital image I'm  happy with. The print was done on a Light Jet printer with archival inks and paper and is very close to being actual sized. The picture I took was brightly illuminated, bringing out a bit more blue around the tail than is seen under ordinary room light.

- - - - -

And now to the puzzle!

This puzzle, with about 1010 pieces, was cut over a period of about a week, starting on July 29, 2016 and ending on August 5, 2016. After the puzzle was cut, I handed sanded and vacuumed the puzzle three times, once with 220 grit sand paper and then twice with 320 grit sand paper. The puzzle contains eight figures (described below).. The edges are 100% directly interlocking. There is but just the tiniest amount of color line cutting, for all practical purposes I'd say there is none.

This puzzle includes my standard signature piece, signed the usual way (Custom Puzzle Craft, overall puzzle number, date and my signature) and I marked a second piece (The Observer figural) on the back to indicate the puzzle is Annual Puzzle Action #6, 2016. For this puzzle I used 5-ply Appleply. The Appleply cut extremely well, the puzzle looks great front and back. There was one void requiring routine attention, there are no chip-outs on the back.

This puzzle will be quite difficult to assemble given the extensive dark areas!

931
Puzzle 931, Golden Dragon #2 / Annual Puzzle Auction puzzle #6, year 2016

931_figurals
  Puzzle 931 Figurals: Flying Saucer, Signature Piece, Turtle, The Observer
  Shooting Star, Big Twirl Star, Solar Sun
  Dragon's Sword, Eva Gagnon Tribute Piece, Small Twirl Star

This puzzle is historic for a couple reasons.

First and foremost, this is the last puzzle cut at Mixed Mixed Art Gallery & Studio (completed August 5, 2016), the place where I made all of my puzzles including every puzzle of the 100 Puzzles Project and all six of the Annual Auction Puzzles. I am now in the process of closing my shop and putting the saws into storage. Two or more years from now I may establish a new shop at home, this is not in the works at this time. I'm totally closed for new orders, Custom Puzzle Craft will no longer be an operating business, although I'll keep the name, just in case plans change.

Secondly, a documentary trailer has been made, currently titled "The Last Piece of the Puzzle". Snippets of me cutting this puzzle are in the trailer! I will be showing the trailer at the 2016 Puzzle Parley. The film makers are thinking of making a full length documentary about the world of  jigsaw puzzles: makers, collectors, assemblers and more!

I should note that the end of this auction is timed to coincide with the period of puzzle sales at the 2016 Puzzle Parley being held in Salem, MA. This is the only puzzle I will have for sale at the Puzzle Parley.

Shipping cost for the Celestial Dragon puzzle within the U.S. via 3-Day FedEx is $25.00. Contact me regarding international rates. I accept payment via PayPal only. California residents add 8% sales tax. I'll ship to anywhere in the world.

* * *

his jigsaw puzzle was cut using a scroll saw, hand guiding the wood into the blade. This is not a laser or water jet cut puzzle. No templates were used for this puzzle, except for the figurals and Signature piece.


Visit John Stokes' legacy wooden jigsaw puzzle website
Custom Puzzle Craft


On Aug-06-16 at 21:24:17 PDT, seller added the following information:

Couple minor corrections: The puzzle has 9 figurals, one place mentions it having 8.  In the description of the first Golden Dragon image, the sentence beginning with  "As this dragon had three class in the front of each foot instead of four", should say "three claws" not "three class". 


On Aug-07-16 at 21:23:43 PDT, seller added the following information:

Official piece count: 1009 pieces.