Making a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle → Meowsterpiece of Western Art -Sistine Chapel ceiling with cats

Fin. The complete puzzle.

How I got introduced to puzzling

My adventure with jigsaw puzzles began quite unexpectedly, thanks to my manager at Udaan, Harini. She introduced me to the world of puzzling, and it wasn’t long before I found myself completely immersed in this fascinating hobby.

The First Puzzle

My first puzzle experience was motivated by a desire to spend quality time with my parents. I had gone home during Covid and was living there for quite some time. Very soon I realised that a lot had changed with time and there was little to no common ground between me and my parents.

That’s when I remembered Harini’s suggestion of trying jigsaw puzzles and so I thought of bringing one in.

It was a simple puzzle, but the act of working on it together was incredibly rewarding. <y hunch was right, my dad was super into puzzles and my sister enjoyed it too.

My first puzzle: Bernese Alps (from Frank) – Aug 7, 2021

What I Love About Puzzling

Puzzling is a unique activity that allows you to turn off your brain and engage in a manual, repetitive process while still feeling challenged. It offers a way to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of daily life and focus on something both repetitive and gratifying. There’s a defined method: you start with the corners, then the edges, and finally sort by colors and patterns. Each piece that fits provides a small dose of satisfaction, a tiny triumph that adds up to a larger sense of accomplishment. Once completed, it’s a constant reminder of the patience and effort you’ve put into it.

Based on my experience, this is my approach to solving a puzzle.

Corners First: Begin by identifying and placing all the corner pieces.
Edges Next: Follow with the edge pieces to frame the puzzle.
Sort by Colors and Patterns: Group pieces by color and pattern to make the process smoother.
Directly Defined Pieces: Focus on identifiable parts of the image and build around them. Example: Faces, any specific color spots.
Prevent Fatigue: Change the section or color you’re working on to keep the experience fresh.

The 2000-Piece Challenge

After completing several 1000-piece puzzles from 2021 to 2022, I decided to up the ante and bought a 2000-piece puzzle from Bookswagon.

Sep 2022 – I ordered the Jigsaw puzzle from Bookswagon

The puzzle I had chosen was beautiful, classy and slightly premium.

It’s called – Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Meowsterpiece of Western Art Series by Galison

Galison is an American brand with good quality pieces and even better puzzle dust. They’ve launched a Meowsterpiece of Western Art series that takes popular western art and re-imagines them with cats in them. The particular puzzle I ordered had the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel but with cats in it.

Here’s a glimpse:

Meowsterpiece of Western Art – Sistine Chapel – 2000 pieces, Galison

When it arrived, I eagerly opened it and spread out the pieces on the dining table, only to be hit by the daunting realization of the task ahead.

I began with the edges and sorted the horizontal rods, but soon hit a mental block. I think the process of sorting constantly without getting to fit any pieces was daunting and exhausting.

I hit a slump, then I took a break and then I stopped attempting it altogether.

Every day, I would wake up and see the puzzle in my hall, eyeing me in expectations of being finished. Every day, I would hide my gaze away from it. Hoping that I’d manage to give it another attempt.

Last progress before I plateaued – Sep 29, 2022

As Diwali approached, the stress of unfinished pieces began to mount. Determined to finish, I even took a leave from work to dedicate time to it. However, on the actual day of the leave, I was so anxious, I didn’t even leave my bed!

I reached out to Harini, and shared my plight. She made me realise that puzzling is supposed to be fun and I’m being too pressured about it. So, on her advice I decided to pack the puzzle and take it home.

We made no progress at home either. Dad was busy too, so no one even opened to attempt it.

The puzzle stayed packed for a while after that, untouched, for over a year.

In 2023, as part of my annual goals list, I took up solving the jigsaw puzzle as one of the goals. However, throughout the year, I couldn’t find any time to attempt it.

In June 2023, as a last ditch attempt to achieve my annual goal, I took it to Harini’s house and decided to attempt it there at her house.

I made some progress with the help of friends. In fact, the progress was enough that in my head, I could extrapolate that with one visit a month, I should be able to finish it. Unfortunately, our schedules didn’t match and we never found the time to sit together again to attempt it.

Progress until June 2023

By the end of 2023, I was under pressure to complete the puzzle. I take my annual goals very seriously. On top of that, I was on a good momentum in 2023, with quite a few of my goals being achieved. So I wanted to do a last push to attempt at achieving this one as well.

On December 19, I packed the puzzle again and brought it back from Harini’s place to mine. I had to travel home on the New Year for my dad’s birthday, so I wanted to finish the puzzle in the next 10 days.

I knew I couldn’t finish it alone. So, I invited friends over to help.

However, on the day that my friends were to come over, I had an episode of fainting due to my verbophobia and that disrupted our plans, and we ended up playing board games instead. I was also hurt as I had hit my head during the fall.

Over the next few days, I felt a slight pain in my head and kept sleeping early and taking rest to recover. The puzzle seemed quite impossible now.

However, I got lucky. A colleague and college junior of mine, Nirbhay was in his notice period at the time and he volunteered to solve the puzzle with me. He enjoyed the repetitive act as much as me and he really took the initiative in solving it.

Since he was on notice period, he would leave from work early and go to my place to solve the puzzle. After my working hours, I would also come over and join him.

Together, we made significant progress.

December 23 – When we started working on the puzzle

December 28

The Final Push

My flight was on 29th Dec, early in the morning around 3 am or so. On 28th, my friends Umang and Urvashi had hosted a new year’s party at their place so I had to go there for dinner.

Once I was back, we had the last few hours left to finish the puzzle.

10 pm on December 29 – Right before leaving for the party

After I got back, we raced against time to finish the puzzle. After a while, Umang and his friend Puneet too came along to help.

I had to eventually leave the place to go to the airport, but Umang, Puneet and Nirbhay finally finished it. I remember being at the security gate while being on a video call and cheering them on as they fit the last piece!

The last picture I took before I left.

Once it was finished, we realised one piece of the puzzle was missing. One last piece that was at the heart of a cat was missing. Normally, a missing piece would make me so mad, but this time, somehow, it seemed oddly okay. Nothing can be too good in life, I guess.

Fin. The complete puzzle.

After I returned, I glued the puzzle together and then sent it for framing to Van Gogh’s Indiranagar.

Once it got back, I had it put on the wall in my room.

The puzzle is put right in front of my bed.

At the bottom right corner, I’ve stuck a small note that says: ”You can do anything you set your mind to. – Eminem, Lose Yourself”

The puzzle remains a reminder to me, of what I’m capable of, if I decide to do it.

Future Plans

I’m considering a 5k piece puzzle in 2025. Let’s see if that works out.

Update:

I finished a 5k pieces puzzle in the first quarter of 2025. Next goal is 20k pieces in 2030