On Closer Inspection....

 

More Chapel Details...

As You Can see, Dear Readers, I found a few more places in The Chapel murals that needed some work before I could declare them complete. The above picture shows a narrow edge of unfinished wall tucked behind the central column at the Chapel's side. The column, when put in it's final location, would conceal this edge from the view in the front opening side wall. But if the viewer happened to be looking in through the Great Hall Doorway to the Chapel... this unpainted section is clearly visible!

 

As you can see from this angle looking through that doorway. 

(The Chapel would not be this brightly lit.... but still...

 that unfinished corner would bug me!)

 

Here that corner has been painted.... you can see

 the Central Column is not in place in this shot.

 

Here you can see the close-up with the Column in place... 

the shadow of the post obscures the painted area, 

but the white would have been visible.

 

And the view from inside The Great Hall 

with the Central Column in place. 

I am so glad I thought to look 

before I had glued the Column in place!

 

Here you can see the Last Judgement portion of the ceiling 

waiting for me to paint those demons in the lower corner.

 

 Here you can see the piece of trim that 

"goes around the corner" and sits at the top of the wall. 

The demons need to seem to be climbing out of the fiery earth....

 

And while I am working on those Demons,

 I noticed that I still had not painted the second layer of green 

for the grass throughout this scene... so I got right to it! 

Here it is half painted.... it adds such a layer of richness

 and intensity to the painting!

 

And here the grass has been done and I am working on the Demons. 

I found it surprisingly difficult to paint the demons!

 They just aren't my usual imagery 

and I don't have a thing for ghoulish.....

 

I had to study my reference books to get me going....

 

As with all these images.... they are very small... 

but need to make a powerful statement...

 

Here are the two on the ceiling panel.....

 

And with the trim panel held in place so you can see them together. 

I do think the red one is my best....

 

 And I hope you are not surprised, Dear Readers, 

to learn that I noticed a few more unfinished details

 while contemplating those demons. 

They sit directly above an array of Saints' portraits

  which arch over the main doorway. 

Those Saints were painted years ago... 

back at the very beginning of the Chapel construction... 

but which Saints are they?

 I had to go back into my archives to discover their names.

 

And as with many things Medieval, I wanted 

to incorporate their names into their picture 

so future viewers would know who they were seeing up there.

 There are plenty of examples of Illuminated texts

 with this sort of clue added to the pictures,

 so I felt bold enough to try it for myself. 

The hard part, is that this is the right hand wall.... 

I could not get my right hand in at the right angle to do the lettering.

 I had to use my left hand, even though I am right handed!

 

It was slow.... very slow and very careful work

 using my micron black ink pen. 

The wall surface is annoyingly rough 

and the letters are small...

 freehand, no pencil or sketching... 

just wing it! 

But I got it done! 

And now you know their names.

 

And yes, the arched door frame is still not glued in place...

 it sits patiently waiting for the final moment.

 

And while looking more carefully at the already "finished"

 trim panel above the Madonna and Child painting

 (the very first part of the Chapel to be started...)...

 I happened to notice some of the red paint

 on those red and gold arches was lamentably pale... 

and had clearly Not received a second coat of paint 

all those years ago! 

I am so glad I noticed now while the access is easy!

 

Here it is completed. 

The differences is subtle... but real!

 

And how could I ignore the Crucifixion painting, Dear Readers, 

where the figure of Mary is painted partly on one wall

 and partly on the next.... and they don't quite meet accurately!

 Alas, this is that dreaded right hand wall.... 

I cannot get my right hand to paint at that angle. 

Or so I thought! 

I was able to get the paintbrush snaked between

 the candlestick and the wall to add just a tiny sliver

 of white paint to extend Mary's cloak around her head.... 

and added the blue layer before 

remembering to take any pictures..... 

but here you can see it shapes her face better this way. 

 

I also added the lettering to the scroll at the top of the Cross

 (again, using my left hand).

 

And then I added detail to the eyes and mouth on Mary.

 Just the tiniest dabs of darker colors. 

But now she can clearly "see".

 

And the blood of Jesus's wounds. 

This painting is very difficult to see

 from the outer side of the Chapel... 

so I contented myself with these 

layers of detail and left the rest alone.

 

Which brings us to putting all the parts together

 and seeing how it looks.....!

 

Here is the Chapel with the flash... 

I never think the flash does it justice...

perhaps we should try it with just the candles lit?

 

Here is the inner Chapel with just the candles 

(and daylight too) showing the Crucifixion panel...

 

And the Moses panel... I know... 

outside of the inner chapel you can't see much...

 

 So I have added the flash... 

here is the Nativity and Crucifixion side 

along with the Last Judgement over the doorway.

 

 And the Altar with the Madonna and Child 

and God in Heaven above, 

between the Moses and Crucifixion panels.

 

And closeup on The Crucifixion panel...

 

And closeup of the Moses panel and much of the Noah panel 

which stands outside the inner Chapel...

 

And the Adam and Eve panel 

below the Creation scenes on the ceiling...

 

 

And another look at the Last Judgement

 scene with the Demons..... have I missed anything...? 

 

Heavens, Dear Readers, 

On closer inspection 

I do believe I have finished 

the Chapel painting details! 

(With the exception of the 

Opening Wall doors that is....) 

 

The Nativity

The Christmas Card

Dear readers, you can see in the picture above that this year's Christmas Card is done! I am running late, it is not to the printers or mailed, but I wanted to include it in this post because the theme of the card, the Nativity, matches the theme of this post. I had hoped to post this blog sooner, but I am running late.... And because I am running late, I will not bore you with showing you ALL of my Nativities.... just a select few!
To begin with, one of my earliest Christmas memories is of reading a book about the Christmas story that showed the birth of the Christ Child and the manger with the animals looking over him. I was fascinated with that story, and always wanted to have my own Creche. But it wasn't until I saw the magnificent antique Creche that my ex-husband's family bought in Sicily many years ago, that I was inspired to create one of my own. Theirs was entirely hand made of paper mache and cardboard and included many figures representing the local villagers dancing on the lawn, and shepherds and at least a dozen angels with musical instruments flying overhead. The figures were each about eight inches tall, so the entire creche set up took up a large part of their living room! I was inspired to try to make my own version - and while my creche copied some of their features, it was not at all like theirs in the end. My figures ended up slightly larger in scale - between eight and ten inches tall, and I didn't end up making as many of the extra village figures as I had originally planned. Mine are made from paper mache and old fashioned brown paper bags on wire armatures, eventually painted with acrylic paints (a process which took me nearly FOREVER to complete!) The whole Creche takes up a fair amount of room, but I set it up in a corner of my Dining Room/Studio next to the Lovely Old Dollhouse. Here below you can see most of it.... excluding the camels and the horse that the Kings travel on..... they take up too much room to fit in this picture!

And here is a slightly closer view of the angels overhead......

And a closer view. The Innkeeper is looking on in the back of the stable, and his wife is acting as the midwife, drying a towel by the fire. The Kings approach on the left, and the shepherds are awed by the angels overhead.....
And here is a closer shot of the Holy family, with Mary preparing to nurse the newborn babe. I have made her with a bared breast in the manner of the numerous Medieval images of the Madonna nursing her child. (When I sculpted this figure I had a one year old son, so I was feeling particularly maternal!)
This creche is larger than traditional dollhouse scale, so I have not tried to incorporate it into my miniature dollhouse world. But that does not mean I have ignored the Nativity in my mini homes! On the contrary, I have collected tiny Creche figures over the years and carefully set them aside for the Someday Dollhouses! The smallest of these are set up in the bay window of the Folly. I am pretty sure it was NOT Arthur's doing! Pollyanna is the one who likes to decorate! (These are not figures made by me....)

Here is a closer look....

And Pollyanna has a much larger and fancier version which she has set up in the Lovely Old Dollhouse! She has invited Sally May and Chip to bring Annabelle to see it.

Here you can see a little closer...

And a really close view.....
(These are resin figures, each about 3/4 inch tall.)

As for the Medieval world in my Castle Dollhouse...... the Nativity was a VERY important part of the liturgical year. And while in Medieval times, they may have had creches that they set up to show the scene of the Christ Child's birth, it was more often that they had painted walls depicting the Nativity, or carved Altar Screens showing the stages of Christ's life from birth to death. Because I am running SO LATE with my projects, I have not yet painted the wall that will have the Nativity scene in the Chapel. I promise to show it to you when I do get it finished!
But nonetheless, it is Christmas Eve and the humble people living in the Castle have gone to the Chapel to hear the Midnight Mass performed by the traveling Monk who has come just in time! He has lit the Altar Candles and is about to begin.......
You can see that they have a carved and gilded Altar Screen depicting the Birth of the Christ Child.... and a very beautifully ornamented book from which he will read the story....

Here , have a closer look.....

So we are gathered together the whole world over, to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child!
I have always been fascinated with the Nativity, and have come, like many of you, to adore the newborn babe.

And so I send you all a Christmas wish;

That you find Love, Peace, Health and Joy in your Coming year!

The Nativity And The Christmas Card Too!