Charley Harper (American, 1922–2007) Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center A lifelong artist and conservationist, Charley Harper expressed his deep appreciation of nature through his design, forming the groundbreaking “minimal realism” that would become his artistic hallmark. The image featured for this 500-piece puzzle comes from a 1991 poster for the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes in Cleveland, Ohio, created in celebration of the area’s wildlife and the center’s many years of “serendipity in the suburbs.”

Wildlife artist Charley Harper, whose whimsical paintings portraying all kinds of creatures have delighted art and animal lovers for over sixty years, came by his love of nature as a child growing up in rural West Virginia. Harper (American, 1922-2007) developed his unique style while a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Art Students League in New York City. He went on to illustrate numerous books and to create works for many conservation organizations, including the Audubon Society and the National Park Service, for which The Coral Reef was produced. Harper designed more than fifty posters for various natural areas, parks, and conservation organizations, each celebrating a special part of our natural world in the unmistakable and vibrant style Harper called minimal realism.