Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles Contest: Challenge Your Mind to Create a Winning Design

Contest: Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles® Contest

What To Do: Create your own puzzle art based on original works by  Alex Beard

Deadline: March 7, 2011

Prizes: One “Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles™ Contest” Grand Prize Winner will receive a new, original Alex Beard painting inspired by the winning entry. 25 Runners-Up will each receive a signed copy of an Alex Beard Impossible Puzzle. Prize winners will be selected from all eligible entries received during the Contest Period based on creativity and adherence to theme by Alex Beard. 

RENOWNED ARTIST ALEX BEARD LAUNCHES

IMPOSSIBLE PUZZLES™ CONTEST AT BORDERS NATIONWIDE

Challenge Your Mind to Create a Winning Design; Deadline March 7, 2011

New Orleans, LA (January 2011) — Artist Alex Beard, known for demystifying art and engaging people in the creative experience, announces the 2^nd Annual “Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles Contest.”  This contest, designed to help break down the barriers between the artist and his audience, encourages people to think outside the box and challenge one’s creativity. 

Most puzzles have interlocking pieces that fit together, and some have evolved to 3D versions and computer adaptations, but the end goal remains the same: to recreate the picture on the front of the box.  Alex Beard’s line of Impossible Puzzles combats the theory that a puzzle can only result in one picture.  In Beard’s line of work, the goal is creativity, curiosity and novelty.  With his line of Impossible Puzzles, Beard proves that by looking at the jigsaw puzzle with a new perspective, anything is possible.

“I am thrilled to be launching the 2^nd Annual Impossible Puzzles Contest in partnership with Borders,” says Beard, owner of the Alex Beard Studio. “What a fantastic way to break down the barriers between ‘the artist’ and ‘the people,’ and what a fantastic partner I have in Borders to make it happen!”

“We’ve recently added a large assortment of adult games and puzzles here at Borders and the ‘Impossible Puzzles Contest’ is a great way to engage our customers around our new offerings,” said Michele Cloutier, Chief Merchandising Officer for Borders, Inc.  “We can’t wait for our customers to show their creativity by designing their puzzle for a chance to win some great prizes.” 

 The Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles contest encourages people to create their own puzzle art based on original works by Beard. In other words, the final result should not mirror the picture on the box cover!  Each puzzle piece can be rearranged into a new composition, a new outline, a new image—a a work of art of the puzzler’s very own. In the Impossible Puzzles collection, some shapes have common outlines, so there is more than one choice for what can fit.  The pieces do not snap into each other, but settle beside one another instead, making the puzzle exponentially more challenging.  While there is actually only one correct piece that combines with its neighbors to assemble the puzzle as intended, the pieces can be combined in infinite ways to create new puzzles and new shapes.

For example, the giraffe creation on the right was made from the pieces of the Abstract puzzle on the left!

                     

It’s easy to enter! Go to your local Borders book store and find the Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles™ display. Then, create your puzzle art based on Beard’s brand new “Red Peacock” puzzle right there at Borders OR purchase a “Red Peacock” puzzle and create your masterpiece at home or in another creative environment.  Wherever you create your masterpiece, don’t forget a camera so you can take a picture of your design! 

Once you’ve finished creating your own Impossible Puzzle-inspired work of art, go to www.alexbeardimpossiblepuzzles.com, fill out the submission form and upload your photo. All entrants must review and agree to the photo upload terms on the contest site and all entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST on March 7, 2011. For official rules and a full list of Alex Bead Studio products, go to www.alexbeardimpossiblepuzzles.com.   

One “Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles™ Contest” Grand Prize Winner will receive a new, original Alex Beard painting inspired by the winning entry. 25 Runners-Up will each receive a signed copy of an Alex Beard Impossible Puzzle. Prize winners will be selected from all eligible entries received during the Contest Period based on creativity and adherence to theme by Alex Beard.

“Art is a medium accessible to everyone,” says Beard.  “I try to break down the artistic process by engaging with my audience and I always encourage questions and feedback.  My goal in creating the Impossible Puzzles  was to make art available to people from all walks of life in a different way, and hopefully open up a new world of creative thinking for them.”

Borders will also be the exclusive carriers of Alex Beard’s line of Journals and Sketchbooks inspired by the new “Red Peacock” design.

Hi-res artwork available for all puzzles and games upon request. For more information and to view the works of Alex Beard, please visit www.alexbeardimpossiblepuzzles.com. 

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About Alex Beard

Alex Beard is a painter and author who has emerged as one of his generation’s most creative and successful artists.  Through his work, Beard hopes to demystify art and share the creative experience with as many people as possible, using every tool he can find. 

“The Jungle Grapevine,” Beard’s debut children’s book, was published by Abrams Books for Young Readers in September 2009.  A modern telling of the classic telephone game, the book introduces the world of the Watering Hole and its inhabitants, and is based on Beard’s many experiences in Africa.  A companion set of board games, card games and puzzles accompany the book.  

While promoting “The Jungle Grapevine,” Beard introduced his “Kids’ Day” concept at events across the country this fall, encouraging children of all ages to embrace their inner artists and participate with him in the creative process by drawing, painting, and having fun with art. Beard will continue implementing Kids Days during the tour for his next book, “Monkey See, Monkey Draw,” which will debut at the beginning of 2011. 

New additions to the popular Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles line debuted this fall along with the introduction of the Untamed Collection, stationery, sketchbooks and the like, which feature all new Alex Beard art. Beard’s artwork hangs on public and private walls around the world, as well as in his new gallery on the corner of Royal Street and Pirate’s Alley in New Orleans. 

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