Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Very Little Progress!

The Littlest Things Take the Longest

There has not been much time lately in my life for making minis. And while I would like to blame that for my lack of progress on any of my projects, I think it would be more truthful to admit that I have too many projects going at once and so I dither over what to work on first.... and WASTE a good deal of Time! Having said that, I would like to share a couple of the Small bits of progress I HAVE made.... because it will surely make me feel better to show even the smallest amounts of progress! The Castle Dollhouse is the only one I have worked on so I will show you the beginnings of the Lord's Council Chamber or Counting House if you will.... where he records the history of the Castle finances and keeps the Books. It is a Library only in the sense that the few books he owns will be kept here... but in the Early Middle Ages.... the vast majority of the population could not read and books were very scarce and precious. This room is above the Guard Room, and below the Lord's Bedchamber. There is a fireplace.... that Modern Invention!

The stairs go up in the wall to the left of the Hearth, while there is a small seat in the window to the right where light for reading would be plentiful.. I still have several layers of painting to do on the "stone" walls... including the grout lines....... but the general layout is taking shape.

Another SMALL improvement is the beams on the underside of the Minstrels Gallery in the Great Hall. I've added them! And I decided I wanted there to be decorative heads carved where the ends of the beams would protrude over the Hall..... so I made a couple out of Sculpey..... and glued them into place.......

There will be six along this Gallery and three on the opposite smaller Maidens Gallery. So far I have only sculpted three.... because they take a long time to make each one.......
At the far end there is a Gargoyle-like creature, then in the middle there is a Lion's head, and close to the outer edge there is a Monk praying........ there will be more fanciful images, but I'm not sure what.....

Here is the Lion.... except he doesn't look much like one.......

And the Praying Monk came out fairly well.... except that he is too big.....
but I used him anyway.....

As for the floor tiles.... well, I'm still making them.... a WHOLE YEAR after beginning them!!! I think I have made about two thirds of what I will need..... and you will think I am crazy, but I am probably also going to make tiles for the Lords Council Chamber........ just a different color.......

And in the Chapel there has been NO Progress AT ALL on the Noah paintings.........
And No Excuse At ALL!!
But just the other morning when I came downstairs on a morning that Happened to be SUNNY.... This is what I saw........

The Summer Solstice Light was pouring into the Monk's Cell.......
surely he would be woken before Dawn to say the Prayers!


And the brilliant Light of Summer was shining through the Peter-Paul Window.....

Casting colored fragments of sun on the Endless Rain of the Noah's Ark Paintings......

Even if only for a BRIEF moment.... making the window Glow!

I know Henry was momentarily struck SPEECHLESS by the Beauty of it all!

So, he didn't even NOTICE how little progress had been made on the Painting....!

Very Little Progress!

28 comments:

  1. Henry's not the only one struck speechless!! I just love this!! The paintings, the windows, the floor tiles, the woodwork - everything about it is so beautifully conceived and crafted. When can I move in??
    Glenda

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're 'carved' heads are amazing and perfect for the gallery. You must have so much patience to still be working on those tiles, but they are looking fabulous and well worth all the time they're taking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don`t be too hard on yourself!! All these time-consuming details make the castle beautiful and enchanting!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Betsy ... Not only did I hear the birds singing nice, but I get the smell of candle wax, incense, old vestments closed in the sacristy ...
    Your work is magnific!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whether or not it's moving along as much as you would like, I'm still speechless. The beautiful carvings alone are wonderful, and I can hardly wait to see the tiles laid out! The shaft of light in that one image is beautiful. And solstice sun, no less!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am in love in your lion and praying monk! Gosh they must be small! And the window glow- WOW!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's really magical. This is such a special project it's worth taking your time to get the details right. Your little monk is adorable :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Betsy, thanks for your kind comment on my book "Moby Dick", I love this book!
    If you are really interested in buying it, I can make a copy for you, and put the book reserved for you in my shop.
    let me know.
    I love your windows! Your progress is wonderful, I like the atmosphere in this place!
    kisses, Caterina

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful betsy! I love your carved heads, they look like wood. The floor tiles are going to be so worth all the time you have put into them. You have made way more progress than myself, this is s busy time of year with gardening added to everything else. I love the sounds of the birds singing, I could listen to them for hours.

    Hugs
    Victoria

    ReplyDelete
  10. They may be little progress but they are huge successes, each one of them . The carved heads are beautiful and really, the lion head looks like the face of our merlion. Google Singapore merlion and you will see what I mean.

    And finally, we see the monk's cell in all its glory. Plus I will always enjoy looking at your murals.

    Maybe next week, you will work on your garden ;)?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love the 3D aspect of your rooms with little turns and secret stairways - it's very cleverly planned and the gargoyles are really well done - I'm impressed!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Though I'm really impressed with the carved lion's head what I love best is the Peter-Paul window. Peter and Paul look so approachable!
    I, too, would like to move in to the castle.
    Lots of love,
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's just beautiful!!! I love the "carved" heads...the lion looks great...did you look up images of grotesques, they mostly don't look very realistic. I think the lion is perfect!!
    Love the window and painting too..beautiful colors!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you, Glenda! I have been so busy lately there has been little time for responding here... But I really appreciate your comments! I am glad you like the progress I am making..... but so far the ONLY bed in the house is in the Monk's cell.... so You'll have to talk to Henry about that.... and HE only gets to stay there until the Monk arrives! Lol! But you can pull up some blankets and curl up anywhere...... :)!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you Alennka! I guess I have patience.... or whatever it is that makes me LOVE drawing tiny patterns over and over....! I will admit that I don't do it EVERY day.... which is why it still isn't done!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you, Margot! It is following the inspiring work that you do that makes me strive to make the details even if they take a LONG time!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ah, Flora, you have brought so much to my humble chapel.... to smell and know the devout hush... I am SO glad you can sense it through the internet! And I love the birdsongs.... so I want to bring them to all my friends too! Thank you for being here!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you, Amy! It is a work of the Heart.... as is all Art worth the name! I only hope it comes together as the mind envisions it... such a slow process. I LOVE it when others are moved too!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Ewa! I am glad you like the little "carvings"... they are quite small... but I am just not as practiced as some mini sculptors.... so they take me quite a while! As for the window glow... I love that touch of realism... and I hope I can figure out where to place the Castle when it is finished so I will still be able to capture the real sun..... It is magical!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you, Norma! And I agree with you... the longer I work on it the more I am aware that I want to do it "right"!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you, Caterina! And I look forward to getting my copy! Thank you for making it!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Victoria! I'm glad you like my "Carvings"! I stumbled on the right method to look like wood.... I use terra cotta sculpey and simply paint one layer of acrylic burnt umber paint over it.... the streaks make it look like wood grain with no effort at all!
    And I can understand the Minis Vs. Garden dilemma all too well! But to ignore the Garden is Just not possible!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dear Sans! Only YOU would think to google lion to find ONE lion in the world that my carvings look like! It is so kind of you! But actually, I have realized that in order to preserve the authentic time period for my Castle.... the "Medieval" sculptors (ie, ME) probably never saw a real lion... Merlion or not! So it is perfectly acceptable that their imaginings only come close to the Real thing! The same is true in the Miniature paintings I am copying.... the artists were very prone to making beasts faces look sort of human! It is actually difficult to make them look like THAT and not like the REAL ones! But I am trying!
    As for the Garden project.... *sigh* it goes VERY slowly... and is mostly in my imagination! But that is where it all starts.... you have to Daydream......

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi Irene! I'm REALLY glad you see that about my Castle! It is one of the parts I LOVE the MOST.... that feeling of twisting stone stairways in the walls.... Grand scale to the rooms and hidden corners..... I am trying to get as much of that atmosphere as I can into a basically Square framework! I'm glad you like it!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Mom! I'm so glad you have your commenting back! I've missed them! I'm glad you like the window! And of course, you are welcome any time!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Margriet! I'm glad you think my lion is perfect... I am thinking more that way as time goes on.... I have realized that the Medieval carvers would not have seen real lions..... so I am more realistic than I knew! I have (since you mentioned it...:-) looked up gargoyles and have thought of a few more designs I will try... so stay tuned! And COLOR is a passion of mine! :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. I recently purchased a book about gargoyles and grotesques, I think they are fascinating!! I'm sure your next ones will be wonderful too!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hehehe Bets :) Just so you know, I happen to think our merlion look just like a lion ! Not unlike yours :)

    ReplyDelete