Small Projects: A Humble Plunger.

Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well!

Here I am with another very small project I want to share with you. Sometimes I buy a cheap miniature item, and work on it to 'upgrade' it to something nicer, just for the fun of it. This time it was a drain plunger.

 

Although I have to say the original miniature was already quite true to life (rubber suction cup and wooden handle), the cup's color was quite off: the rubber was transparent and showed a very fragile-looking, light pink hue; nothing like your average old plunger. So I disassembled it, painted the cup inside out in a more familiar color, and made it seem used and robust. I also 'fixed' the wooden handle by making it 'aged', cos originally it looked as if it had just left the Walmart.

I hope you like the result. It was fun to do, and now I can add it to one of my old miniature kitchens. You never know it may be needed!

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for visiting, keep safe, and see you next time!

© 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.

 

Rust & Steel Headquarters in Autumn.

The autumn afternoon sun peeks through the cracks in the blinds at the "Rust & Steel headquarters," engulfing everything in a golden glow. It's my favorite time of the year when it comes to the sunlight; it's warm, soft, and cozy. It sweeps through the room like a search light, highlighting whatever crosses its path.

I love to follow the beams, and take pictures of the things being highlighted with their magical light. And I have to be quick at it too, because they fade as soon as they came, leaving behind a beautiful silence.

 

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for visiting, keep safe, and see you next time!

© 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.

 

Ghosts That Dwell In Dolls Houses: Jane.

They say that every old house has a resident ghost, and to be honest, I think the same goes for old dolls houses. And considering that I have quite a few very old dolls houses, well.. you can figure that they must host a whole plethora of spirits! 

Meet Jane, aka "Jane of the Attic", or "The Doll That Lives Upstairs". I've introduced Jane to you before, as part of the "Attic" series. Jane is actually a doll that houses a ghost; the ghost of an old lady.

Not ready to exchange this world for the next, the old lady passed away, but not quite, as she decided to cling to her favorite and beloved doll "Jane".  Ever since, the old lady appears regularly in the house where she spent her earthly life, manifesting herself sometimes as "Jane", sometimes as her own self, making this a quite complex and confusing apparition.   

 

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for visiting, keep safe, and see you next time!

© 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.

Ghosts That Dwell In Dolls Houses: The Lady with the Vacuum Cleaner.

They say that every old house has a resident ghost, and to be honest, I think the same goes for old dolls houses. And considering that I have quite a few very old dolls houses, well.. you can figure that they must host a whole plethora of spirits!

One of them is what I call the "Lady with the vacuum cleaner", or "Vacuum cleaner lady" . This apparition is seen wearing what looks like Edwardian servants clothing, which places her in the period 1901-1920, or shortly thereafter.  

Although she can be quite frightening to whomever may see her, she's actually totally harmless. She just goes faithfully about the business of cleaning the house, even though it has been uninhabited for many years. Perhaps, in her world, she still sees the house as it once was. Who knows..

Above: image of Edwardian servant.

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for visiting, keep safe, and see you next time!

© 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.

An Old Fire Extinguisher.

Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well!

Here I am with a small project I want to share with you. Sometimes I buy a cheap miniature item, and work on it to 'upgrade' it to something special, just for the fun of it. This time it was a metal fire extinguisher.

As you can see here below, it was quite basic, so something needed to be done to it, to make it more fitting of my style!

So I cut off the rigid (metal) hose and nozzle, removed the sticker wrapped around it, and worked on the paint with the dremel. I added authentic 'instructions stickers' specially printed for me by Rebecca Micallef, then kind of half destroyed them, and added real rust powder and weathering to give the fire extinguisher that old, dilapidated look that I love to give to all my miniatures! Finally, I added a new flexible hose and nozzle, and weathered them as well.

 

I think it came out pretty nice, I must say! This fire extinguisher looks like it has been rusting away in an abandoned factory or something. Yeah, it definitely has a life of its own now!

 

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for visiting, keep safe, and see you next time!

© 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 paintings of The Conservatory.

Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well.

On this blog I'll focus on a set of paintings which I did for the outside panels of the -now completed- Conservatory project. There are eight panels, hence eight paintings were required.

As illustrated in the below images, the paintings on the lateral walls are conceived as triptychs, an arrangement which helps to create wide landscapes. In fact, all eight paintings are related to one another in some way, resulting in a scenery that 'wraps' itself all around the conservatory.

The first triptych shows a nocturnal, heather landscape with an old, Dutch windmill at the edge of a river (first panel), and a tree, some shrubbery, and a tall, moonlit house in the center panel. The third panel features vegetation along the river, including some trees. The river runs all along the panels, even though it's only (barely) visible on the first and third ones, where you can see its surface shining in the moonlight.

 

 

 

The front of the conservatory features two paintings, which, again, are connected to the rest. On the left panel you see a huge, classical garden which a big fountain or water jet, and on the right a swan swimming in the same river which is shown on the side panels. It is as if the garden is fed directly by a small branch of that river.

 

 

The second triptych shows the conservatory and the house to which it belongs (right panel), and a stretch of swampy land in the center panel. Note that this river is the same that runs on the other side, as if you're looking at the same landscape, but from the opposite direction. An old cemetery completes the scene on the left panel. Actually, the cemetery gates can be seen at the far left of the center panel. The elements displayed play a role in the stories associated with the conservatory, the house, and its attic, aka "Jane's attic".

There is actually a ninth painting associated with the conservatory, which was not painted on any wall, but rather conceived as a 'stand alone' (see below). That painting is very similar to the one on the front of the conservatory, featuring a swan, and is now part of the private collection of art dealer and collector mister Joseph Rookie. If you want to see it for real, you'll need to visit his wonderful art gallery located on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Malta. The last two pictures, taken inside mister Rookie's art gallery, are published courtesy of Rebecca Micallef. They show the art gallery, as well as four of my paintings displayed side by side, including The Swan.

That's all for now, folks. I hope you liked this 'guided tour'! Thanks for visiting, keep safe, and see you next time!

© 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.

 

At Night.

The abandoned train station was a place of refuge for a plethora of wildlife, including pigeons, rats,  bats, all sorts of insects, and an owl or two.  

During daytime, the air between its derelict walls was filled with sun rays shining through the holes in the roof and broken windows, as well as the pigeon's familiar cooing, and the flutter of their wings. At night, however, the nocturnal creatures took central stage; stealthily, as it is their custom to operate in silence, under the cover of darkness.

This pattern repeated itself for years and years, and throughout the seasons. Until that chilly night in April, when a new and uninvited 'guest' arrived at the scene, to claim it as its own.

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Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© 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.