Jane's attic update No XLIII: A rocking horse.

Recently I bought another wonderful miniature from the talented mister Han Goergen, the same artist that created the wheel chair which was posted earlier in this blog. This time, it was a beautiful rocking horse.

Normally I do perform what I would call some 'after sale' work on ready made items, to make them more 'fit' to their intended use. Usually that involves weathering, adding additional parts, or even getting rid of some. That's exactly what I did with the wheel chair. However, mister Goergen's horse was so totally perfect the way it was, that there really wasn't much for me to do on it! For starters, the weathering was just right, so I did zero work on that!

Yet, stubborn as I am, I still wanted to add something to it of my own, even when it wasn't really necessary. And that 'something' was a saddle. 

So I went about creating one, using all kinds of materials. The only parts that are actually miniature saddle parts are the stirrups. The rest, like the seat, saddle blanket and stirrup leathers were created 'on the go', in other words, I improvised. And I must say I'm really happy with how it came out! I do hope that mister Goergen will like this additions to his horse!
And, just in case you wonder: the saddle is not fixed to the horse, so it can easily be removed if need be! 

Above image: the rocking horse was already perfectly weathered, so I left it 'as is'.

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XLII: The bone dome.

Recently I mentioned my intention of working on a miniature scale model of a glass dome full of animal bones which I have here at home. 

Of course it was not to be an exact replica, as such would be an impossible task, at least within a reasonable time frame, but rather an approximation, capturing the essence of the original. 

So I worked on some 'bones', big and small, as shown on the above and below pictures.

The bones were then placed inside the glass dome, filling it almost to the brim. The original dome has less bones (and does not include a cat skull!) but I thought it would be nice this way; after all, remember I said this was not to be a exact copy!

The dome was then placed on a small table which I painted for this purpose, adding a ragged tablecloth to it, as well as a bouquet of dead flowers. I think the flowers came out pretty well!

Above is an overview picture of the dome on the table with the flowers next to it. The below pictures show the miniature dome standing next to the real one, as well as on my hand for scale! I hope you like it!

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

The magic of Amado-Gravagno porcelain dolls.

Today I saw a picture of a beautiful doll made by Amado-Gravagno porcelain ball jointed dolls. Like all their exclusive dolls, it was a real, one of a kind beauty, and -of course- already sold! 

Yet, her image haunted me; there was a certain look in her eyes that said so much! For some reason, I felt the urge to edit the photo published by Paulina Gravagno, to accentuate further the soul that the artist's hands had so lovingly put into the doll. While doing so, I transformed her jointed limbs into ones of 'flesh and blood', added an extra spark to illuminate her eyes, and there she was... living and breathing in all her porcelain splendor!

I showed my 'fan art' to Paulina, and kindly received permission to post it here for all of you to enjoy! You can view the incredible Amado-Gravagno dolls here!

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author. Original picture © Paulina Gravagno, used with permission.

Jane's attic, update No XLI: a study of bones.

Today I took the animal bones which I keep in a glass dome out of the dome for study.

The idea is to reproduce a miniature 'bone dome' similar to the full scale one, for display in Jane's attic, and these old bones offer great guidance for that purpose. I will keep it to the more basic ones though; bones are such complex structures, that trying to reproduce them at such a tiny scale seems like an impossibility to me! If anything, looking at these bones made me awe at the wonder of Life itself!

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XXXIX (b): a chimney.

Remember I told you that I was ready working on the miniature dolls house? Well, I wasn't. After publishing the latest photo's I decided to add a chimney. 

And I must say I'm glad I did it, because the chimney really gives the little dolls house something extra! Below are some pics. 

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XL: a front for the dolls house.

When I built the miniature dolls house kit for Jane's attic, it was never my intention to include its facade. After all, this was supposed to be an old, derelict dolls house missing some of its parts, so I focused on its interior which was the part to  be on display.

But then a little voice told me that it would be good to work on the front too, and simply put it next to the house, to allow a view of the latter's interior. So I worked on it, inside and out, and below you can see the result.

Above image: the finished dolls house.

Above and below images: view of the interior, with different wallpaper patterns applied to each individual segment.

Above image: I placed some wood on the door to make it look a bit like some kind of weird grille or grating. Sometimes I do crazy stuff like this, because in the end it's all about having fun.. and fun I had!

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XXXIX: the magic of vintage hat boxes.

One of the items that I definitely wanted to add to the attic was a set of vintage hat boxes. The old lady who lived in the house was a fashionista of sorts, and owned an impressive collection of hats. Hence I thought it would be logical for the attic to shelter a few forgotten hat boxes. Besides, I have this 'thing' for boxes old and new, so one more reason for me to make a few for the attic! Meet the 'handsome threesome'. I hope you like them!

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© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.