Terry Harrison was born near Wendover into an RAF family and consequently spent his early years moving from base to base, eventually settling in Farnborough, Hampshire. During his leisure time, Terry pursued his true passion which was landscape painting and by 1984 the demand on his original work was so great that he decided to paint full time and has never looked back! The increasing popularity of Terry’s work in both their original and printed formats (including cardboard jigsaw puzzles) is reflected in the ever increasing demand for his pictures both at home and abroad.His work can be found in collections around the world in Europe, Japan and the United States.Terry currently has fourteeen puzzles in the Gibsons catalog; his most popular pictures are 1000 piece puzzles of small seaside harbors that were once thriving fishing villages, canals decorated with barges and quaint english villages all embracing the nostalgia of a bygone era.

Like most jigsaw puzzle manufacturers, Gibsons use an image that has been printed onto a piece of standard european greenboard which is a high density carboard. The puzzle is cut when a steel die is placed over the image and then up to 500 tons of pressure is applied to ensure a clean sharp cut with no material loss. This process combined with the high density board ensures a minimum of curvature on the puzzle piece where the blade actually comes into contact. Puzzle pieces tend to be small and uniform and it takes a keen eye to see the often subtle differences especially where there are large pieces of the puzzle with the same color such as an area of blue sky. When correctly assembled, fully interlocking puzzles are a very tight fit and the puzzle can be lifted vertically by its corners without the jigsaw puzzle falling apart. The typical puzzle piece is a foursided shape with knobs and indentations. There are many permutations possible such as three knobs and one indentation or two of each, etc. Sometimes by turning the puzzle over it is easier to assemble large areas of a single color as the various puzzle piece shapes tend to stand out.

Gibsons puzzles from England have been slowly but surely expanding their range of extra large piece jigsaw puzzles. The puzzles have 500 extra large pieces and, once assembled, have the same dimensions as a regular 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Not only are the pieces larger they tend to be of a more unique shape rather than the usual knob and hole variety of puzzle piece found in standard puzzles. This feature obviously allows for more easy identification for a puzzler whose eyesight may be less than perfect and whose hands may be less steady. The extra large piece puzzles also tend to have brightly colored, well defined areas without too many puzzle pieces of the same color as one might find in the sky section of a more challenging design. The extra large puzzle is also a perfect vehicle for young children and older adults to spend time together enjoying each other’s company in a pleasant family activity.

Jigsaw puzzles are apparently one of those products that, although, not unintentional, were never deliberately created for the hobby marketplace they now serve. John Spilsbury was a London mapmaker from the middle of the eighteenth century who had the idea that painting a world map onto a piece of flat wood and then cutting it into various countries and continents would prove a  useful teaching aid for children. By using a jigsaw which would allow for an intricate cut Spilsbury was able to saw out one-off and not particularly well fitting jigsaw puzzles.nThe puzzle would then provide a tool for small motor skills as well as a geographic reaching device. Wooden puzzles today are extremely rare and expensive and have been replaced by cardboard puzzles which are cheaper to produce, fit better and can have thousands of pieces to cater to the most avid puzzle hobbyist. Puzzle pieces tend to now have a familiar range of shapes with knobs and holes that fit into one another smoothly so long as the correct pieces are put together.

These tightly fitting pieces are referred to as fully interlocking which means that once correctly assembled the puzzle section is a tight and snug (and unique) fit.  Puzzles are still considered teaching aids and are made for children usually with large pieces for easy identification. Extra large jigsaw puzzles pieces are also now widely produced for older puzzlers whose hand and eyes are not as sure as they once were but still enjoy a good jigsaw puzzle challenge.