Shelley Davies Puzzles

I do travel as often as possible, and I love to create collages wherever I am, as they’re so portable, and it doesn’t take a studio to make them. I made a large number of small collages when I spent five months in Spain, just before the pandemic hit. My puzzle collages aren’t ones that travel well, as they are elaborate, detailed, space and time-consuming things to make (and most decidedly NOT portable!).

Q. How did you become interested in art licensing to jigsaw puzzles in the first place?

I’d been creating illustrations and collages for a number of years before I thought of creating images for the puzzle industry. I’ve always loved making intricate, colourful images, and they seemed to lend themselves well to puzzles, so it was a good fit for the companies I work with today and my own aesthetic sensibility.

Q. We see a lot of your images produced by Cobble Hill Puzzle Company. Are your images sold by other puzzle companies as well?

Yes, I’ve happily created a number of them for Ravensburger in the US, Schmidt Spiele in Germany, and coming this spring, Wentworth Puzzles in the UK will be producing some of my images on their utterly gorgeous wooden puzzles.

Q. Do you know how many puzzle images you have licensed with Cobble Hill Puzzle Company?

At last count, I think Cobble Hill has around 21 of my puzzles in their catalogue. And there are two collections there which are interconnecting puzzle series (the ‘Rainbow Collection’ has seven individual colour-themed puzzles which join together, and the ‘Four Elements’ with four images that connect to each other).

Q. What kind of education do you have that gives you the ability to be so creative in your artwork?

After a few too many art schools, I had a very diverse career before I started creating puzzles, all in the arts in one way or another. I worked in the animation industry for ten years, making commercials and feature films, then became a scenic artist for film and theatre, and then moved on to illustration, making images for magazines and newspapers.

Q. Who were/are your biggest influences and inspirations in the art licensing world?

I’ve always loved and admired beautifully made products, whether it’s a nicely designed matchbook, stationery, a book/magazine cover, home furnishings, textiles, you name it. Anything created with care and a well- balanced aesthetic is something that makes the world a more harmonious, beautiful place to live in, no matter how small the thing is. I’ve always believed that even tiny, seemingly insignificant things add up to make the world a more vibrant, alive place to be, and we can and should design it with care and attention.

Q. How does photography enter into your work?

For the puzzle images, a professional photographer comes to my studio and brings their fabulous camera to create the ultra-high resolution image required for the printing purposes of a puzzle.

Q. Where do you get all the objects you use in your designs? Better yet, where do you store them?

I’m a huge fan of thrift and antique shops, so lots of things come from there. I also create a huge number of things within my images, from tiny 3D sculptures (animals and props), as well as 2D paper creations using cut paper, to the tiny, colourful plinths/shapes I make to place the objects on or around. There is layer upon layer of coloured paper in most of my collages, and all of these collages are quite 3 dimensional before they get turned into a 2D image for a puzzle.

When my temporary puzzle collages are dismantled (after they’ve been photographed), I store everything in small, well-labelled boxes for future reference. Most of these things are so small, that when stored together, don’t really take up huge amounts of room.

Q. What products other than jigsaw puzzles have you licensed your artwork to?

I have created textiles for Kaufman Fabrics and Northcott Fabrics (they’ve transformed my ‘Rainbow Collection’ of puzzles into a line of beautiful, colourful textiles, with my ‘Sewing Notions’ puzzle images showing up next month with its own line of textiles, too!). I’ve also created a series of notebooks featuring my paper dog illustrations, and next year, a line of calendars, too.

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Q. Do you know how many puzzle images you have licensed over the years?

It’s coming up to around 30 images, I believe.

Q. Out of all your licensed images, do you know which image has sold the most puzzles?

‘My single Rainbow is a huge best-seller, being so bright, cheery and colourful. And then, my ‘Catsvillle’, then ‘Dogtown’ (two absolutely delightful puzzles for me to create!), come in second and third. The ‘Vintage Art Supplies’ puzzle is a perennial favourite, with all its colourful, gorgeous bits and bobs, perhaps sending creative inspiration out into the world! And my ‘Blue’ puzzle, from the ‘Rainbow Collection’ seems to be a big hit, too (what’s not to love about the colour blue?). And surprisingly, my ‘Black and White Animals’ puzzle, the most difficult of all of them, is an extremely popular one as well, so there are puzzlers out there who really love a good puzzle challenge!

Q. What is the average length of time it takes for you to create one image?

As all my puzzle collages are completely handmade (none are created digitally), there’s a ton of work that goes into a puzzle even before I get started building it. Usually lots of research beforehand, and the fun bit, shopping for all the stuff that may or may not be used in the final art, and then the very slow and methodical business of constructing it

all, one teeny, tiny thing at a time (and all on hands and knees), with everything delicately balanced and composed, layer upon paper layer, building up so as to make as pleasing a composition as possible. So, give or take at least two months, occasionally less, sometimes much more, depending on the complexity of the image or the requirements for the client.

Q. Were you from an artistic family background?

My mother was an unrealized but natural talent (she was busy raising us!), so perhaps it’s in my DNA...

Q. Have you always identified yourself as an artist?

Yep. From the word go, I knew I was an artist. Always that kid busy making stuff in the background. It just took me some time to work out which avenue to take, and of course everything I’ve done so far has fed into what I create today, and will create in the future. It all adds up to an aesthetic wealth of a life lived, innumerable things looked at, made, and um, oh yes, some hard work thrown in for good measure to get stuff actually done!

Q. This is a big ask....do you have ONE favorite?

Ah, which child do I Iove the most? Tricky question. I’ve really enjoyed making all of them, in so many ways, each with their own challenges to construct. The dog and cat puzzles were a blast to do, as I got to make tiny sculptures of both dogs and cats. The plastic animals I bought just didn’t have any life to them, so I made my own, and it was so much fun! I loved creating the ABC puzzle, too, as I really love typography, and I got to incorporate a zillion different styles within it. My most recent puzzles for Ravensburger have been a huge joy to make, as I got to work with them in conjunction with the Eames Office, which brings the incredible design legacy of Ray and Charles Eames, two of the most iconic and influential designers of the 20th ...

century, into the realm of this century for a whole new audience. I created two very different puzzles for them using the Eames’ 1952 deck of cards called their ‘House of Cards’, a toy which they designed to spark creativity and imagination. Right up my alley!

Q. If a person was interested in doing the same work you do, what is the best advice you can give them?

Think about which puzzling experience you’ve enjoyed the most, and then let your imagination take over. How could you make something different and unique? Making the same images as what’s already on the market isn’t what’s going to set you apart from the crowd. Make what you would like to see, and then set about creating it. Get a portfolio of original, good quality images together and then approach some companies.

Q. I would also like to see/know how your 'work in progress' happens - are there images/stages that you can share?

It’s a very, very slow process, and painstaking in the extreme. My puzzle images are all about detail and the treasure hunt aspect of puzzling, so the more that’s in my collage, the more fun the experience of piecing it will be.

There is a short film about my process here... https://vimeo.com/293631120.
When a filmmaker acquaintance saw how I constructed these completely handmade collages, he said he had to make a film about my process, otherwise no one would know just how much work goes into constructing them.

Q. Do you have a specific art studio or work from your home?

I work from a home studio, and once I get started on a project, it sort of takes over most waking hours, so it’s great to crack on with it, day or night. I have a largish room (10’x20’), which I use for much more creative play than just my puzzle collages. There’s a LOT going on in that room!

Q. Can you share something personal about yourself to us that is not on your website - like, perhaps, you do jigsaw puzzles? Or besides your artwork, do you have another hobby? Or maybe you know a famous person personally?

Whenever I put one of my puzzles together, I always learn something, so that’s fun. It might be about the image, how easy or challenging an image is to piece, or it might

be about the manufacturing of the puzzle. And of course, I’m always surprised at how addictive, and how satisfying it is to do a puzzle! As I’ve created so many, and they’re all so detailed, there’s always a surprise to find that I’ve forgotten about within them!

A huge, additional bonus for me, after making all these puzzles and sending them out into the universe, is having such a joyful and overwhelmingly positive response to them. Long before the pandemic, and certainly during it, I’ve had the absolute pleasure to hear from people around the world telling me how my puzzles have given them some respite, relaxation, distraction or a quiet connection with family. I can’t tell you how wonderful that makes me feel! Most artists never get that sort of connection with their audience, and I feel so very privileged to be able to touch so many lives, even in a small way. It’s been the cherry on the cake for me, and I send out my heartfelt gratitude to everyone.

As for famous people, I rubbed shoulders with quite a bunch of them when I was in the film business, working as a scenic artist (i.e.: painting the scenery), but I was always the one in the paint splattered overalls, and they were the STARS. I was lucky enough to have worked for many months with Jim Henson and his magnificent Muppets (and their weekly parade of very famous guest stars), which was truly thrilling. I was so in awe of the incredible talent of all those Muppeteers, wishing I could have as much fun as it looked like they were having. Their puppet workshop is one thing I will never forget, with its aura of intense, super fun creativity.

Aside from making puzzles, I do lots of other creative things, too. I love photography (*), painting, sculpture, and writing, so there’s always something percolating in my studio. I’m working on a children’s book at the moment, a long held dream of mine which I want to turn into reality.

Furthermore, I think the key to a happy life is to cultivate the practice of being curious; that leads to openness and new, creative ways of thinking, seeing, and living in every way.

Special thanks to Shelley Davies for her contribution and interview. 

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