Man makes puzzles of Bloomington

Marc Tschida has been fascinated by puzzles since he was young.

As the founder of Press Puzzles, Tschida specializes in making specialized Bloomington-themed wooden jigsaw puzzles. They are based around the Bloomington’s performing arts, visual arts and iconic views.

Each puzzle is made primarily with recycled and salvaged wood from old Cardinal Stage Company sets and is hand-cut with a scroll saw.

While the puzzles appear refined and alluring, Tschida said the process to make these puzzles is relatively straightforward.

“I glue an image onto a thin piece of wood, seal the image, cut the pieces using a scroll saw, hand-sand each piece, reseal the front of the puzzle and then wax and polish the back of the puzzle,” Tschida said.

“I spend almost all my spare time constructing, just constructing them. I try to wake up early and spend an hour or so to make these puzzles in my garage.”

According to Press Puzzles’ website, presspuzzles.crevado.com, each puzzle is cut one at a time. The number of puzzle pieces can vary from 24 to 220 pieces, and it takes between three to seven days to cut a puzzle.

The cuts on each puzzle range from the traditional interlocking symmetrical cuts that are seen in modern jigsaw puzzles to irregular cuts, where the sides and indents of each puzzle piece are not evenly cut.

“I grew up in a house that had a tradition of doing the occasional jigsaw puzzle,” Tschida said. “There were many nights sitting with my mom working on puzzles. As I grew older, I found doing puzzles a very calming influence on me, making me feel very zen.”

After coming to Bloomington, he began his study of the arts community, which lasted for 15 years.

It wasn’t until 2006, when he began observing the sights and areas around Bloomington, that Tschida decided to take the hobby he loved and start making his own puzzles that relate to the city’s arts.

With this inspiration, he began to casually explore different ways of making and manufacturing puzzles.

In the spring of 2013, he began experimenting with turning images of architecture and areas around Bloomington into puzzles.

Currently, Tschida has multiple puzzles on display at the box office of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and the Venue Fine Arts and Gifts. 

In the next few months, the public will have a chance to see the puzzles at Fountain Square Mall during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Community members will also be able to view a large selection of puzzles Nov. 30 at the City’s Holiday Art Mart.

Puzzle-making has always been an acclaimed hobby of Tschida. To him, it is something that gives him the ability to express a different form of beauty to Bloomington residents.

“I think that these puzzles are a great way to celebrate the imagery and culture of Bloomington,” Tschida said. “This is a town and community of which I am proud to say that I am very fond of.”