The Chapel Floor.....

 

In The Beginning.....

I Hope you don't mind, Dear Readers, being given a glimpse of the Distant Past when the Chapel was just in the early stages of construction. This picture was taken in early 2011, about a year after I had begun building the Castle Dollhouse. I know it is a dim and moody picture, but it shows clearly how much of the Chapel design was already well defined and well under way. With the exception of the ceiling painting, the back altar section of the Chapel has seen almost no alteration since this was taken. The wall murals have been given their initial painting, the stained glass windows are done, the painted rock walls and floor are in place, the electric candles are shining and even the window and ceiling edge trim are already in place with the beginnings of the "ceiling angels" already painted. Over the next couple of months I had finished the other stained glass windows (The Peter and Paul window on the side wall) and the Noah's Ark and Nativity murals as well as begun the ceiling painting. But then my focus shifted to completing the Great Hall Floor tiles and beginning the Lord's Council Chamber. And soon after that I fell deeply into the Tree House Project and didn't return to working on the Chapel until two years ago. I am sure some of you long time readers might have wondered if it would ever happen! So when I did return to the Chapel my focus was quickly on completing the ceiling painting... the largest unfinished task. And in all this time there was no thought given to the floor.

 

I had originally thought I would use mosaic tiles for the floor 

(this was before I knew about sculpey)

 but they were glass and would be difficult to cut and shape. 

(I was thinking of the famous abalone tile floor of the 

bathroom in Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle... 

I wanted an iridescent effect).

But when I returned to the Chapel two years ago, 

I was thinking I could make sculpey tiles the way 

I did for the Great Hall and The Lord's Chambers. 

So I started baking a bunch of sculpey in

 various shades of gray and silver

 (I had decided by then to keep the color on the floor to a minimum....

 it shouldn't compete with the ceiling.)

 

Sorry for the darkish picture.... it was taken in February two years ago! 

But it shows the glittery gray sculpey I had come across 

and wanted to test in the Chapel.

 

Here you can see the tiles being tested in the Chapel... 

shown with the flash,

 which gives an unrealistic picture of the actual look...

 

Which would look more like this. 

Yeah, I know it is really hard to tell with just a partial covering...

 

Here is a closer view showing the sparkle in some of the tiles.

 

 Perhaps with more tiles...? 

Unfortunately, the lighter gray color 

which I liked best had been a limited supply... 

and when I bought more of the "same color" 

it wasn't the same color but gave

 that marbled effect you see to the front. 

Clearly, the pieces were not coming together as I had imagined. 

And the more I looked at it the less I liked

 the whole grid effect of a tiled floor. 

What I really wanted was the ancient 

bare rock surface of an Old Chapel Floor. 

Nothing fancy. Just big solid pieces of rock. 

More like what the walls were made of.

 Like the lowest floors in the Castle... 

the Kitchen floor and the Stables and the Dungeons...

 

Well, here is a picture of the Entire Castle 

opened and with the flash on.... 

taken a couple years ago while I was debating the floor issue.... 

see the lovely floor in the kitchen with Belle and Old Meg? 

(You might have to poke the picture to see it at all!) 

That was the effect I was wanting. 

 And the only real problem was that to make it 

required using the plastic "bondo" material,

 a two part polymer you have to mix and use very rapidly 

because it hardens quickly, and it is mandatory to use 

with good ventilation because it is toxic and it stinks! 

So the project went on the back burner (this was in October!) 

until the temperatures could warm up enough to

 leave all the windows open for several days and nights.... 

a tricky season to find around here! 

But three weeks ago I saw my opportunity coming... 

we had just suffered excessive heat for three days and nights, 

and it was going to cool down and stay cool for three days and nights..... 

So I got started! 

And there was no ability, Dear Readers,

 to mix, smear and shape the stuff fast enough

 to also have time for taking pictures!

 

I had all the doors and windows open, 

but the stuff stinks and you have to work very fast. 

The smearing to shape the floor was very

 rudimentary and uneven, and I also had to

 try to score a pattern of the rocks also very fast! 

No time to ponder anything just apply it and let it go. 

Then after twenty minutes you can start 

to rough sand the material to smooth the worst of the ridges. 

 

Suffice it to say, at this stage I thought I had ruined everything. 

It looks awful, it stinks, and the rock pattern if there was one 

was an unrealistic mish-mash... 

I had to walk away and leave it overnight.

 

The following day I decided I needed to give it a chance.... 

work on it and see what I could manage to achieve. 

So I made sure the rock outlines were clearly defined 

(it is chisel-able and sand-able when hardened) 

then I applied the first coat of primer.

 This only made me more aware of the

 "unrealistic" nature of the textured surface... 

(a sweeping valley that crosses over several rocks...

 not realistic at all!) 

But I carved down the worst of the ridge and

 figured I would camouflage it with paint in the end. 

 

The first layer of "stone gray" paint... 

the same color used everywhere on this castle.

 

Then the darkest gray in all the grout lines.

 

And some "texturing" with the dark gray

 just to add "depth" to the eventual coloring.

 

And the light gray again.... "dry-brushed" over the surface,

 trying not to cover the dark grout lines.

 

And a couple of days later deciding it all needed some "dirtying up".... 

it is supposed to be old... and worn....

 

Showing the whole Chapel.... 

to see how it is "shaping up".....

 

And adding many more paint layers.... 

all those colors I used on the Folly Rocks last summer.... 

coming in very handy!

 

Sometimes it is difficult to know when to stop.... 

when in doubt I give it a couple of days to rest 

and come back with fresh eyes.

 

And deciding that yes, I did need to add 

the white grout lines between the rocks. 

If I didn't like it, I could always paint it over again!

 

And this does help "unify" these rocks with the 

purely painted version in the Altar area. 

 

And suddenly, Dear Readers, I am reassured... 

I have Not ruined the whole thing! 

These rocks are pretty nearly what I had been hoping they would be.... 

They may get a little more paint at some point... 

but for now I am holding steady. 

For the Chapel Floor it's a good beginning!

 

Stitching....

 

 The Background....

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, but I have been aware for quite a while of the immense amount of time it is likely to take to complete The Chinese Dragon Carpet. It is eight by ten inches for the finished size, stitched on 40 count silk mesh. There are 1600 stitches in every square inch! The detail it allows is wonderful, but the sheer volume of stitches is a bit alarming to contemplate. And as I take my time with dithering about certain design elements that I need to re-design because I have made so many changes to the original chart... it only becomes more daunting. With that said, I know how much can be accomplished when one does a little bit every day (the lilac blossoms, for example) and so I decided my best course of action was to just start stitching on that endless white background. It would probably help me to make the other design decisions to have the white background "in the picture" so to speak. So I got started. You can see in the above picture, I am basically working from the central medallion toward the border. I am using the basket-weave stitch for the most part because it has less liklihood of distorting the material and is less wasteful of thread while providing good coverage. It is the recommended stitch and I find it easy to manage. It is worked along a diagonal path, I think of it as going up and down the "stairs" of the thread grid.... you can turn back whenever you encounter an obstacle... (already stitched motif) or just because you think the area you want to cover should be in smaller "chunks". I try to stitch at least one "thread's" worth each time I stitch, although I am not being strict. If I only stitch three stitches, that is sometimes enough!

 

The goal is to stay focused on the tiny area I am working in

 and just not worry about the whole thing!

 

It really doesn't matter how long it takes... 

I don't have a "deadline"....

 

Of course, there are days when I can't get to it... 

and that is okay too! The object is not to sweat,

 but to enjoy the process however long it takes. 

 

And along the way, I made a discovery! 

I had thought I needed bright light to stitch this mesh size... 

but when working with white on white...

 it is actually easier on the eyes to stitch in slightly low light! 

In the above picture you can see how difficult it is to see the mesh threads

 and what has been already stitched, while the previous picture,

 taken in low light, shows the mesh and the stitched area clearly!

 

 

This discovery expanded the available stitching hours to make use of... 

evenings and rainy days are sometimes more ideal than sunny mornings!

 

And remembering to take some pictures of the progress made

 is sometimes a fun and encouraging task.

 

This picture above was taken the same day as the previous picture.... 

yeah, progress is slow... but it is progress!

And in case you were wondering about the Medieval Tapestry stitching, 

Dear Readers, never fear, I have been stitching it too!

 

I have been grabbing it at odd moments 

and adding a row or two of the background... 

and forgetting to take pictures. 

It is looking as wonderful as I had hoped it would!

And of course, it is much faster to stitch, 

being only 20 count cloth. 

 

I had decided at the last minute to add a few more

 flowers to the lower half of the tapestry. 

Mostly just more of those tiny white ones you can't see

 until the background is in place.

 

It only makes sense to me that the flowers 

should be thickest at their feet!

 

 

I will resist the temptation to show daily progress....

 such a boring thing....

 

This amounts to a months worth 

of stitching a little bit at a time!

 

And the Tapestry is nearly finished and ready to be hemmed!

 

While the Dragon Carpet has a ways to go. 

But making a start, Dear Readers,

 is sometimes half the battle! 

Don't waste time fretting about the time it will take!

 Just stitch the background and it will get done!

The Rhododendron in Bloom...

 

Is Breathtaking....

What can I say, Dear Readers, at this time of year when the whole world is competing for the most sumptuous displays of floral glory, and suddenly the Rhododendron is in full bloom! It steals the show, commands the worship of every eye and never ceases to amaze me! Did I really make that shrub? It is so splendid in its abundant brilliant color, there is nothing like it ever! In the Real World, the blossoms last but a week if the weather is kind (this year it was not, in my neighborhood) but here in Miniland I can allow the blossoms a longer span of display. And after the blossoming lilac shrub has bowed it's last curtain call, it is Time for the Rhododendron to shine alone on the stage..... and shine it does!

 

It is so overpowering, 

I can almost ignore the rest of the unfinished garden!

 Sigh. 

Yes, the rest has seen no improvements since last year. 

The rocks are mostly sort of in place the way they ultimately should be.... 

but no moss has come creeping in... no ferns.... 

no wild flowers growing up between the rocks... 

but the Dreams are still there! 

Those dreams of "Someday".... 

and sometimes I can feel them coming closer

 and teasing me with details.... 

oh so many details still to be accomplished!

 

And yet, the very fact of the Blossoming Rhododendron

 is encouragement in itself!

 I got it made..... the rest will have their day!

 

It is enough to revel in the beauty of the moment.... 

to admire those multi-stamened florets and 

ponder the possibility of adding a bumble bee or two..... 

and to acknowledge that Summer is on the doorstep....

 

 

And the Rhodie must have its moment in the sun!

 

I hope you don't mind, Dear Readers, 

that there is nothing New to show you this week. 

But the Rhododendron is in bloom, and it is so magnificent,

 it just takes my breath away!

 

The Chapel Murals....

 

Adam and Eve....

When Last we visited with Adam and Eve, Dear Readers, I had just revised their bodies to show a better form than my initial attempt. This was already almost two years ago, but in their corner of Eden, time has not wrought any changes. They remained poised on the brink of ruin... the moment of temptation.... or had it just passed.... and their eyes were opened? We will never know... but I, in my haste to see them onward, had begun to paint the background around them in that antique gold paint I have used for all my "golden" work. And I have found it to be very difficult to achieve any "glow" at all! And the dark, poorly lit photo above is the only one I took "before" I began to make more revisions. My first intention was to add more "coats" to the golden background... to remove the streaks of the uneven pigment... and hopefully produce a radiant golden background... for this is Eden after all! But all I achieved was a darker feeling to the painting. Since there were other details to pursue as well, I worked on them while I pondered this dilemma. Thus I began the bottom panel which was to show Adam and Eve when they were expelled from Eden and the "Adam delved and Eve span"part of the story. This required more research in my many Tomes to try to settle on the "models" for my versions of this iconic piece of the Story of Life. And believe it or not, it was surprisingly hard to find versions of this part of their tale.... well, after the temptation it is all downhill as we know.

 

And you might recall that I am trying to "set" my Castle 

in the early Middle Ages when the style of painting 

was a bit less developed and the figures were 

often very "stylized" and static. 

The Traditions were also very established... 

Above is a very good and very small version I found.... 

Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent in the tree... 

Then they hide in shame.... Then the angel expels them from the Garden. 

The plants are very stylized and the background is just a gilded surface.

 

 Another version I found was tucked into the Illuminated Initial shown above.... 

it is the continuation of the Creation which was shown on the side panel 

(you can just see a corner of that...).

 The six "roundels" to the right show 

God instructing them about the Tree and then the temptation, 

(both in the first roundel) 

then the hiding in shame along with the expulsion in the next roundel.... 

and on the top right, Adam is delving and Eve is spinning... 

Earthly Life no longer in Eden.

 

And another slightly larger version of the story in multiple panels.... 

first showing Adam and Eve being tempted...

 (I know I have shown these before... they are taken from the 

"Illuminated Naples Bible" which was created in the mid fourteenth century.)

 

Then being expelled from Paradise....

 

And finally Adam delving and Eve Spinning. 

In reality these illuminations are each about two inches square... 

while my wall panel in the Castle Chapel is about five inches by three inches, 

and the lower portion is barely one and a half inches tall. 

At first I had intended to have the panel just showing Adam delving and Eve spinning,

 but then I decided it needed to be two sections under the Paradise panel... 

one for the Expulsion and the other for Adam delving and Eve spinning. 

And I had a memory of seeing an illumination somewhere 

of the Expulsion showing the Angel sending them out of

 a gloriously pink-walled "fortress" Garden of Eden..... 

But I could not find the original that I was remembering. 

So I did my own version...

 

 I apologize for the poor photo quality.... 

I sometimes forget to take photos, 

and those I do take are not always the best,

but here you can see I divided the lower panel

 and inked a "primitive style" version of the Main Events.

 

 And began to paint the skin tones and

 the "Garden of Eden" walled citadel.

 

Here I am beginning to add more color... 

and in particular an "ocher" background.

 Which only succeeded in making the World outside the Garden

 look much more golden than the Garden itself! 

Hmmm.

Perhaps the problem was that I had not "under-painted" 

the background in Paradise with a golden ocher base color? 

Was it worth trying to figure out if this would make a difference?

 I really want the Paradise scene to Glow

 in that golden splendor we imagine.... 

at the very least the background needs to be bright,

 not somber gold! So I did some testing.... 

painting a test strip....

 

Mind you, this is just on cardboard.... 

which I gave a couple of coats of white 

to establish a clear base.

 Then I painted, from the top down..... 

two layers of just the antique gold.... 

the white gap (will have layers soon....) 

below that I layered ocher over two layers of the old gold

 (to see how that would look if I did not re-paint

 the gold background white before adding ocher) 

then at the bottom I painted ocher over the white,

 and then several coats of the gold over the ocher over the white. 

You can see the difference of under-painting the gold with ocher 

by comparing top and bottom.

 

I added another strip of ocher because the bottom one

 was still looking murky at some angles..... 

and so much depends on the angle of the light... 

which is much of the problem in the Chapel. 

The only definite decision was I needed to 

repaint the white background behind Adam and Eve 

while I pondered the layers of color more deeply!

 

So I carefully .... 

carefully painted around the figures...

 

Because one thing was certain to me.... 

the antique gold background had appeared too dark!

 

So we're starting over with the white ground.

 

And adding the ocher background. 

I might try a different "gold" over the ocher. 

I need to test more samples.

 

 Meanwhile I am working on more of the

 other details of the mural. 

I added the base colors for the ground and the trees in the lower scenes.

 And I worked on the details of the Serpent in the Garden. 

 

And I added details to the eyes of Adam and Eve in Paradise...

 

And Well.... suddenly.... 

The Serpent looks triumphant.... 

Adam looks a little amused.... 

and Eve looks Woeful... 

and so goes the story.

The Eyes tell the tale. 

 

And that's where I have to leave you, Dear Readers,

 because progress is slow and halting... 

the details are still so unclear... 

There is no perfect place....

 Not even in the Chapel Murals

 after the Fall.