Progress on Glencairn Cottage

Life has been interfering with art lately, as it sometimes does, but I'm back to work again.

I've now finished the first floors of the Glencairn Cottages.

The floors are made from a single piece of model ship decking, which I stain and varnish.To ensure a perfect fit I make cardstock patterns, which you can see in the background. By cutting off the small extension, I can use the same patterns for the upstairs floors. This way both floors will be exactly the same size, which helps to keep everything square. This is very important in small scales, because even the slightest deviation means that the walls will be crooked.

I usually wait until the building is finished to furnish it, but it's easier to do built in features, like the fireplace and kitchen cabinets and fixtures, whiile there is still access from above. All items except the sink (a casting) were scratch built from strip styrene. The pulls on the cupboards are silver micro beads. I paint them white and then dot them with silver so they look less like beads. The refrigerator was inspired by a built-in refrigerator in my grandmother's house.

Glencairn Cottage

My first project for 2010 is Glencairn Cottage, a design I've made before. 

I keep detailed notes on everything I make in case I want to make another.  Usually, I keep them on 4x6 cards. However, this house requried the use of templates for several parts, so I used a large sheet of paper to make it easier to copy them all at once.

Taking the time to make notes and drawings can be challenging when you're in the midst of putting something together, but it really pays off later. Even if you don't make exactly the same thing more than once, design elements from one design can easily be transferred to another if you already have drawings.

Translator

I've just added a translator to the blog. You can go to the Babel Fish box near the bottom of the page and choose from the available languages.

I have taken time off during the holidays, and will be starting a new project on Monday.

Happy 2010 to all!

A Dutch House

One last piece from the past: a Dutch house I made in 2008.

The interior details, particularly the fireplaces, were inspired by those in Rembrandt's house in Amsterdam. There is a great web site for the Rembrandt house, with a virtual tour:http://www.rembrandthuis.nl/cms_pages/index_main.html
I took ideas for the furniture from various paintings of the period.

Some details: A painter has just finished a portrait in the lower left room; the sitter's hat and cane are on the table. The kitchen has a built in bed. The upper left room has a baby house on the back wall.

I was having some camera issues (since resolved)when I took the interior shots, so they aren't as clear as I would have liked.

This piece is now part of the Kathleen Savage Browning Miniature Collection at the Kentucky Gateway Museum.

Another Piece from the Past

This is The Mallory Gallery - a fine art gallery with an artist's studio and residence upstairs.

The half-timber building has a stone foundation and a slightly sagging tile roof. Among the paintings on display in the gallery, and also on the easel on the second floor, are tiny watercolors by my friend Terry Junger.

Memory Lane

While I'm finishing up the Christmas project, it seemed a good time to post a few pictures from past projects.

This is a 1:12 scale version of my sales table that I made for a collector who made a wonderful room box of the Chicago International show a couple of years ago. The houses are 1:1728 scale - one twelfth of 144th scale. And no, they aren't furnished. One has to draw the line somewhere!

Santa's Workshop

I have't been posting for a bit because I have been working on a Christmas present for someone. I can't post pictures or describe what I'm doing, because it's going to be a surprise. I will put up a picture later, after she receives it.

It will be done by next week, and things will be back to normal.