In The Eye Of The Beholder

From The Ridiculous To The Sublime

Dear Readers, I hope you will forgive me if I take you on a small detour on our way to visit the little Cottage that is my current project. This detour will take you, briefly, to my workplace where some new equipment was installed yesterday morning. After the technician had finished the installation and had cleaned up the mess and left, I glanced down at the floor beside my desk and noticed that he had left behind some pieces of the protective wrappings that came with the equipment. This is what I saw........

Do YOU see what I see??? Do You?????

I held them up for my co-worker and she immediately said "Those look like little chairs!"
"That's EXACTLY what I thought!" I replied. I couldn't bring myself to THROW them away, so I set them on a table near the door, just curious whether anyone else would also see them as mini chairs.

The next person to come into the office was my BOSS... he took one look at them and said..... "Those look like little chairs!" And laughing, he put them on MY desk and said "Do you have any little people to put in them?" "You should check in that box of toys you have.....!" (A box of toys that once belonged to my boys and now lives in the office to entertain any children who come with their parents...) And he pulled it out and found the little stuffed lion........! I dug a little deeper and found the construction guy....! They make me SMILE every time I look at them!

Now that we have visited with the Ridiculous, we can move on to the (hopefully) Sublime part of this post! I have been working on the little Cottage and made some good progress last weekend. The basic house is finished except for the Dreaded Shingles. I also want to attach it to a base before I send it to it's new owner. So you can see there is still a bit to do before I can call it done. But I think it is looking very sweet with the window box and the seats on the front porch......

And you can see I added a lovely doorknob to the front door.....

And because I just couldn't leave them the way the kit was made, I added vertical dividers to the large bay windows on the downstairs....... the windows just looked too Modern to my eye without the dividers. Here you can see the outside of the bay window on one side......

And here you can see the inside of the front window where I also added the vertical dividers.....

And for the front door I made "strap" hinges out of black leather glued in place. The wood of this kit is much too thin to use actual metal hinges with screws.... so I have improvised..... the leather is strong and flexible and looks rather good in MY eyes!

And for the bay window opening I have added a window seat or bench or deep window sill..... whichever you think you want to call it! It is a bit narrow to actually be a SEAT, but I think it LOOKS good and could hold a cushion or flower pots. The little corner shelf is a piece that came with the kit..... it included some VERY rudimentary pieces of furniture which I have assembled and painted.

Here you can see one of a pair of settles.......

And a better view of the whole Cottage with the rest of the furniture in place. Downstairs is a table and two settles and the corner cupboard......

And upstairs is a bed and a small bench........

I have painted them the same sky blue as the ceiling downstairs and upstairs as well........

And, of course, if you have cherubs flying around on your Downstairs ceiling, you can hardly avoid having them on the UPSTAIRS ceiling as well!

Here is a closer view of the roof panel ceiling before it was installed......

I wonder what he is seeing, don't you?

Maybe he is thinking about what a sweet little room this is....

Or maybe all he sees is his sleeping friend.....

She looks to ME like she is Dreaming Very Sweet Dreams!


But perhaps it is ALL just in the Eye of the Beholder!

What's Up?

New Arrivals

What's this? Another painted ceiling? Another PROJECT, you ask?
Shhh! Don't tell anyone... it's a surprise for someone but I'm not telling who! It's just a TINY, Quick, Little Project.... made from one of the smallest and simplest kits I could find! It's the "Sugarplum" kit made by Greenleaf, and it's .....well, ..... Minimal! But it is very cute and goes together quickly.... or it would if I didn't need to PAINT the whole thing! I just can't seem to leave the ceilings alone! I don't know why I bother! Hardly anyone EVER looks UP, and this ceiling is not very tall, so you can barely see it at all, even when you get down on your knees! But I just can't seem to stop myself!

So here is the painted ceiling.... not very Original, but sort of irresistible!

And a slightly closer view.......

I really did not spend very long painting the ceiling...... but the Walls were a different matter! Once the ceiling was decorated, I couldn't just leave the walls PLAIN! So I painted some Vines in a sort of lattice pattern and added red rose blossoms to the openings.....

Well, they look a little more like Roses rather than blobs once I added some black outlines and some leaves....... but I really was NOT taking my time with this...... and even so IT took my time! Several Hours of time and it really doesn't look it..... but it will have to do! I tell myself that it is supposed to look like a Garden with Roses climbing on the Latticework and Cherubs flitting overhead!
This is a view with the ceiling in place..... but the ceiling is SO LOW! Please, don't bump your head! And I think I am going to have to add some border to the top of the wall........ I DID mention that this is a QUICK, LITTLE Project??

But it IS going to be very Cute when it is done..... with a little bit of Garden outside...... and a flowerbox at the window.......

I will need to put hinges on the door.....
I CANNOT stand a door that does NOT open!

Oh, look!

It seems as though some of our friends have gathered here..... shall we go in and see?

It seems that we have not met them before? Oh, Goodness! It is Pollyanna's PARENTS..... Victor and Joanna, and they have come to celebrate the recent engagement!

And what better place to meet than this charming little Tea House in the Garden?

Some of you MAY have been wondering where on EARTH Pollyanna's Parents were? Well, it seems they travel a great deal and mostly live abroad, so it is understandable that this meeting has been LONG overdue!

I suppose there are few moments as unnerving as meeting your future Mother-In-Law!

Joanna has heard a GREAT DEAL about Arthur, of course, so she feels as though she already knows him..... but Arthur is Not so sure he feels the same way at all....!

Victor want's to help Arthur feel welcome to the Family....

because he remembers what it is like...

Arthur can think of only one thing to say......

"Would you like a cookie?" he gallantly asks!

But don't look up.......

I think someone heard the word "cookie"!

"Did you say 'Cookie'?"

"We LOVE Cookies!"

(The Cookies and the Tea Set arrived from Glenda in New Zealand on the Same day as Pollyanna's Parents arrived..... I think it was a match made in Heaven, don't you?)
Just a Little Something.... but THAT'S

What's Up!

Chapel Update

Painting In The Chapel

For the past two weeks I have been doing my Favorite thing....... Painting on the walls .... and the ceiling.... this time in the Chapel of the Castle Dollhouse! I have made some good progress so I thought I would share it with you, Dear Readers, even though it is still a LONG way from complete. So bear with me while I explain that there is still MUCH detail missing from these paintings, especially the ceiling which has only just been started. Even so, it adds immensely to the atmosphere and gives a glimpse of what I hope it will feel like when it is all done! Here you can see that overhead above the Altar I have painted God the Father emerging from the heavens and gazing RADIANTLY down on all below! (Yes, I put glittery crystals on his eyes!)

Here is a closer view. You can also see that I have painted the Vault Ribs in the red and gold that I used around the windows. This is a view looking UP at the ceiling. (Remember that you can poke the photos to enlarge them...!)

And to one side, above the entrance doorway I have painted a series of Saints Portraits in roundels over the arch. I know, this view is a little bit too dark.... but it is Night in the Castle!

Ah, that's better.... here the ceiling has been temporarily removed (remember that I have not attached the ceilings to the rooms I am working on...) so the roundels with the portraits are clearly visible.
At the farthest left side is Saint Amand, then Saint Matthew and Saint Mark. I scoured all my Medieval Miniature Books for portraits that would reveal the character of each Saint and I have copied them here, somewhat roughly in most cases.

Here is the portrait of Saint Elizabeth, patroness of Beggars, the Embodiment of Charity, and to her right is Saint Luke the Patron of Artists and Sculptors.... sorry this photo cuts him off....

And to the farthest right is Saint John the Evangelist and then Saint Radegund who gave up a Queens crown to become a Nun and founded an Abbey....... Each of these portraits is about one inch in diameter and painted directly on the wall. The edges need a little tidying up still......

And the Painting I did THIS weekend was a rendition of the Nativity...... copied faithfully from a Miniature in a Psalter from Wurzburg painted around 1240 AD.

Here below you can see the almost completed version I painted on the Chapel wall......

And here you can see the original that I copied from.......

I used the tried and true method of making a tracing of the miniature and then transferring it to the wall by covering the back side of the drawing with graphite pencil and drawing over the original design which transfers the design to the wall beneath. Then I go over the pencil outline with a fine point Permanent India Ink Pen. Here below is the inked drawing on the wall.

Then I paint the various areas with the colors as shown in the original. This is not as easy as it sounds as matching pigments is very challenging. I allowed myself to vary the colors from the original rather than try to match them exactly. This picture shows it partly done....

And this one shows the completed Nativity scene. This Painting is about 4 inches by 5 inches!

I am VERY happy with the results!

Here is a view with the ceiling back in place and the Altar Candles lit........

There is still a long way to go.... but it is some Progress!

Just a Chapel Update