John Eckman

Puzzle: Claude Monet, Japanese Footbridge

March 31, 2025 by jeckman

Although Pomegranate just calls this puzzle Claude Monet, the painting is “The Japanese Footbridge” (1899) and is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art – see their collection highlight of it. Great puzzle – tackle the bridge first (after edges of course) then the browns and lily pads – challenging but beautiful.

Puzzle: Colorful Montreal Doors (Rose Art)

March 24, 2025 by jeckman

Alternating pastel or softer colored art puzzles with vibrant photography based puzzles like this one gives a good variety. Amazon link: RoseArt – Kodak Premium – Colorful Montreal Doors – 10000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle Note some of the doors here are repeated – the yellow ones in the second from the bottom row left are … Read more

Paper on Fediverse Sharing – Threads and Mastodon users

March 20, 2025March 20, 2025 by jeckman

Diagram showing the interaction between Threads and Mastodon - activities and databases

Ujun Jeong, a PhD student, posted on r/fediverse about a new paper on Threads and Mastodon. Abstract: Traditional social media platforms, once envisioned as digital town squares, face growing criticism over corporate control, content moderation, and privacy concerns. Events such as Twitter’s acquisition(now X) and major policy changes have driven users toward alternative platforms like … Read more

Puzzle: Jacob Lawrence, The Wedding

March 17, 2025 by jeckman

I love the puzzles Pomegranate puts out, including this 10000 piece one published with the Art Institute of Chicago, with Jacob Lawrence’s The Wedding, painted in 1948. Really interesting to do this as a puzzle to get a rich sense of the color and the background.

WordPress and the Fediverse

February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 by jeckman

I gave a talk at the Boston WordPress Meetup last night about WordPress and the Fediverse Slideshare link (You Got Your WordPress in My Fediverse) or embed below: You Got Your WordPress In My Fediverse / You Got Your Fediverse in My WordPress – Two Great Things That Go Great Together from John Eckman Went … Read more

Today’s Moment of Zen

February 21, 2025 by jeckman

Sunrise at Forest River Park in Salem – that’s Marblehead across the way

Mark Frost, Home Country

January 17, 2025 by jeckman

Another RoseArt puzzle, Mark Frost Home Country – Warming House Went on Americana kick for a bit with puzzles. Interesting texture in the trees / branches and some “gimme” spots with type. Check out Mark Frost American Art for more about the artist.

American Ephemera Archive online

January 10, 2025 by jeckman

Reblog via John Overholt

The American Antiquarian Society has made scans of 40,000 pieces of American ephemera, previously only available through a subscription database, accessible for free through its catalog. https://pastispresent.org/2025/good-sources/ephemera-explored-over-40000-new-images-give-glimpses-into-19th-century-american-life/

The interface leaves something to be desired – you can’t just flip through galleries, you have to find an item and request the scanned image – but there’s great stuff in here

Lawren S. Harris: Red House & Yellow Sleigh

January 10, 2025 by jeckman

Via Pomegranate, Red House & Yellow Sleigh, 1000 piece puzzle. Harris was one of the founders of the Group of Seven, a set of Canadian landscape painters. He’s also well known for a number of paintings of the north shore of Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains. Can’t seem to find where the original of … Read more

Home Country Cape Ann Puzzle

January 3, 2025 by jeckman

Via RoseArt, Home Country – Cape Ann 1000 piece puzzle. “Cape Ann” by Anthony Kleem is the source material here. You can see many of the inspirations on the Gloucester HarborWalk: The Paint Factory, for example. Love the colors on this one, especially the fall trees in the foreground and on the hills in the … Read more