John Nelson

John Nelson is an American artist and craftsman whose remarkable journey began back in ninth grade, when he first took classes in mechanical drawing and woodworking. These two school subjects laid the foundation for his entire professional life. For many years, he worked as a professional draftsman and later taught drafting at a vocational high school.

In 1965, John purchased a large farm in northern Vermont with a 200-year-old farmhouse. Unable to afford antique furniture to fill his home, he designed and built his own, using skills learned from that early woodworking class. He later published around 15 books on creating antique-style furniture.

By the mid-1980s, as scroll sawing grew in popularity, John began designing and selling his own scroll saw patterns and authored several books on the topic.

Now at 90 years old, after losing his beloved wife—whom he first met in the third grade and spent more than 80 years with—John turned to puzzles to help navigate his grief. For the last 19 years of her life, his wife bravely battled cancer, and in her final two years faced advanced dementia due to prolonged chemotherapy. Despite everything, she continued to smile, and during this difficult time, their bond grew even deeper. Her passing left John completely devastated. Seeing his struggle, his daughters began bringing him all kinds of puzzles to keep him engaged and help him heal.

Immersed in this new passion, John started creating his own puzzles, exploring neurographic and spiral drawing techniques—transforming his sorrow into creativity that now brings joy and wonder to others. He hopes people look at his work and think, "How in the world did he do that?"