Deciphering Clive Brazier’s stunning concentration and perfectionism in building gigantic and arduous puzzles is much more complex than putting hundreds of pieces together in a short time.

Clive (51) has been a QCSS (Queensland Community Support Scheme) client with Co.As.It. for about one year. A remarkable man shrouded by hundreds of puzzles: on the walls, on the coffee tables in the living room, on the fridge and stashed in several boxes in two large cabinets.

He started this hobby as a child – in fact, Clive still keeps his old “Summer Haven – 1200 pieces puzzle” given as a gift when he turned five years old.

As he says, there is a sense of accomplishment every time Clive assembles a new game – around eight per year. He currently works on a 9000 pieces-puzzle: a ship facing a dreadful storm in the ocean, forecasted to be finished in eight to ten months.

“This is the longest puzzle I have ever built. Usually, I do puzzles containing 6000 pieces, which takes me 45 to 50 days to complete,” says Clive.

“Puzzles with fewer colours are the most difficult ones to be built. This happens because most pieces look the same, and there is no colour pattern to follow, not a point of reference like the one I’m building now, for example.”

What Clive definitely expects is to celebrate Christmas and admire his newest masterpiece: the 9000 pieces-puzzle.