Ceramic studio

I haven't posted anything for a long time, but not because I haven't done anything new. It just didn't happen. Catching up now, I will start with a project that I did in early autumn, when it was still possible to move around, and I did it in my miniature club. In this club, that meets once a week, everyone makes what they want; single objects or a larger project or anything. We have a guru who has an answer to every inquiry and a solution to every problem. We also support and encourage each other.

When we got together after summer I decided to make a room box, and I wanted to make a ceramic studio to give my daughter for her birthday - she is a ceramic artist. There are some rather specific elements necessary in a ceramic studio, and it was a challenge I so much enjoy. I browsed through many pictures of studios on the web, also recalling the time, long ago, when I attended pottery classes. A pottery wheel was the obvious start, and that's what I made first. 

I wasn't sure how to organise the room box, but the guru happened to have a wine box she didn't want - wine boxes are otherwise hard to come by these days. I painted the walls and ceiling white and made tile floor from egg cartons. A studio would of course have shelves, and rummaging through supplies I found a lampshade, exactly the same I once used, inspired by the very same guru, in my first dollhouse. I trimmed it to measure and inserted into the box. 

The doll is for size only. Since I was making everything from scratch, scale was essential. A table has to be higher than the wheel. 

Of course I needed a kiln, and there are two types of potter's kilns: front-opening and top-opening. My daugher has the latter, but for a room box a front-opening kiln is much more grateful because you can display pots when the front is open. I tried all kinds of boxes available in the workshop, but then remembered a tin box that I many years ago used as a refrigerator. I am glad I didn't throw it away because it was perfect for my purpose here. I painted it on the inside and put in wire shelves. Obviously a kiln cannot stand on the floor so I made a base. I also added some tiny watch parts for knobs.  

The guru gave me a small sink left over from some other project, and I added taps, splash board and sewage. I was now in the third or fourth week of the project and started finding small items to serve as various jars and containers. I also made two ceiling lamps.  

But of course ceiling lamps would not work for a potter: you need strong, focused light right over the wheel. I looked around in the workshop. Making a proper workbench lamp would be a challenge. I like challenges. It took several attempts and many dirty words, but I did it. I also wanted an iconic Swedish wall shelf, and I had actually made one some months before, without any project in mind, but it went well scale-wise. 

This picture is from a later stage of the project when shelves were filled, but before that there were some other things to make. Paint and glaze jars, for instance. 

I needed lots of finished and unfinished pots. I needed tools. And I needed chaos. Even the tidiest potter cannot keep the studio tidy. 

Here is the completed project. I always say that a miniature project is never completed, as you can always add and improve, but in this case it had to be completed by my daughter's birthday, and I wouldn't be able to change anything once it was gone. 

So let's have a closer look at different angles. 

On the table there are various tools, jars - one is spilling paint, which is fun to make - kitchen towel, coffee mug, a half-eaten sandwich; the table is smeared with dried clay. On the stool, you see scales, which is a Barbie item painted in more appropriate colours.

The corner with the lamp and the shelf. Paint jars are mostly radio or computer parts. The ceramic items are beads, candle holders, buttons. The lump of clay on the wheel is... clay. 

My pride - the kiln. I used the same kinds of beads and other vessels and painted them with chalk paint to resemble unglazed ceramics. And the fact that the kiln can be opened to display its content is a bonus. 

There was an issue of getting the room box to my daughter during the pandemic, but we managed it, and I think she was glad. She did point out, as I had anticipated, that she would never allow cats in the studio, but I told her it was poetic licence. 

As with all giveaway projects, I felt separation anxiety for a while. But I was and still am pleased with it because I managed to make it just as I had imagined. 

This was two months ago, and I have done lots of other stuff since then so come back soon. 

Bakery room box

 Recently, I have been making a lot of miniature breads and cakes.

 

I have never been good with clay, but some time ago I attended a workshop where I learned some basic techniques that made me more confident to experiment. Now I have a variety of stuff that demands nice display, and what can be better for displaying cakes than a bakery. I have been planning to make a bakery for a long time, but as usual I need to find an interesting point of departure. It is tempting to buy a shop kit, but that's not much of a challenge. I needed, firstly, an open cabinet, and secondly, glass counters. I also considered having some cafe-style tables and chairs, but decided they would obscure the cakes.

Now, my most important insight about starting a new project, even when you have a good idea of what you are doing, is to go through your stashes. When you, like me, have been collecting rubbish for years and years, as well as buying stuff you don't need at the moment but might need some time in the future, you totally forget what you have. In this case, I was looking for something else when I found these two cabinets.

 

The one on the left I bought many years ago and never used in anything because it is too large for a 1:12 project. I tried to use it as a book shelf, but it didn't work. The one on the right I bought at a car boot sale during one of my very last weeks in Cambridge, mostly as a farewell souvenir, because it is also too large, but I thought I might use it in a project one day, and as you see I was right. Just what an old-fashioned bakery would have. Scale won't be a problem in this particular project.


Rummaging further through my supplies, I found small transparent plastic boxes, probably from fancy chocolates, that I use for sorting small things. Suddenly I saw typical bakery counters!

I am getting cardboard boxes with my grocery deliveries that are just the right size for a room box. The first step was, as usual, just to put in what I have for a rough sketch.

The table  is something I made a while ago to practice making furniture from craft sticks.

 

It didn't match the cabinets so I painted it dark. The till is a metal pencil-sharpener.

Then I needed to decide on floors and wallpaper. If you wonder why I put so much energy in floors and wallpaper in my room boxes when my focus is on displaying something - it is absolutely essential. Sloppy background will ruin your project. So sometimes planning and building backgrounds takes longer than the rest of the project. When small things are to be displayed, too conspicuous backgrounds may kill them. Floors and wallpaper must go well together. They must obviously also go well with the rest of the objects. Sometimes it takes several attempts before you strike it right. Fortunately, I now have a good-quality printer so I can print several papers and test. I don't think I ever get it right at first attempt.

Eventually I decided on pretty Art Nouveau paper from Jennifer's page, my favourite site for printies. With such a colourful wallpaper, floors should be more discreet, and after long deliberations I choose a conventional, but unbeatable pattern.

Now on to details. Large cakes can be displayed on cake stands and platters, but for smaller cakes and biscuits I needed trays. Again, going through stashes is helpful.

These came with sets of miniature cutlery, and they fit precisely into my counters, but of course they needed to be painted. This looks more realistic, doesn't it.

First preliminary fitting:

Now I need to make more bread and cakes to fill the shelves and counters.

Come back soon.

Messy kitchen

It has been a while since I did any upcycling projects. I had planned to upcycle this kitchen for a long time.

It is good quality, but a dime a dozen, and my idea was to paint it with chalk paint, maybe distressing a bit. But as I started painting I suddenly felt I wanted to use it in a scene. Working on the book nook has made me eager to create more living environments. Some comments that I have received pointed out that the book nook very clearly told a story. I don't think any of my projects tell a story, not even the largest dollhouse. They are static, frozen in a moment. I want them all to tell a story, or many stories, but I haven't got there yet. I want there to be broken tea cups, spilled milk, dirty clothes, opened books. Tokens of presence.

This is why I decided to use the kitchen set in a scene of a messy kitchen. I haven't yet decided how messy, but I'd like to create an impression that someone has just left it in haste, and maybe this person hasn't been very tidy to begin with. The time will be vague 1960s-70s as I have many objects from those days.

I had already painted the kitchen units when I got the idea, and there wasn't much I had to change.

Obviously, the oven had to be black inside, and the front white. I painted the knobs and taps that were far too shiny. I added a drain in the sink (jewellery finding). I distressed a bit, not too much yet, it will depend on how the project develops.

I had saved a good cardboard box, exactly the same size as wine boxes that I had used before for room boxes and that are impossible to get these days. I made the first tentative layout.

I wanted a door in the back because a door always creates a sense of extra space. This door has been used in several earlier projects - I am sure this is not the last time. I can make a door of cardboard, but I happened to find it as I was looking for something else, so I can just as well use it.

The lovely fridge needs a door so I will have to figure out how to make it.

The cupboard is not quite in the same style, but it will work if I don't find anything better.

I think I have mentioned repeatedly in my posting that when I work on a project I like to put in as many details as possible from start, even if I then need to take them out again. It gives me a better sense of what I am doing. So after I had painted the walls and ceiling and attached suitable floors, I put in the furniture and dozens of objects that may or may not be part of the final scene, but play a role in the process. For instance, one of the chairs got knocked over unintentionally, but I saw immediately that it would be precisely like that in the final scene.

I mended the fridge to my best ability with what I had at home. One day when I can go to craft shops again I can make a better door, but it will be in the background so will work for now - or so I hope.

I haven't yet decided how messy my messy person will be, for instance, will they leave the fridge door open, but in any case there must be at least some stuff there. I will also add fridge magnets and such.

Next I "dressed" the sink.

This is something I would never, ever have in my kitchen, but that's the point of miniature-making, isn't it - creating something you would never have in real life. I didn't want to use my nice vintage plates in this project, and they wouldn't even be fully visible. Instead, I made plates from egg cartons, gluing them together at random and adding some disgusting food remnants. The knives and forks are cheap ones from Tiger, but they were far too new and shiny, as pointed out by someone with whom I shared this step, so I aged them a bit. Soap bottle came with a lot. From the cabinet, a garbage bag is falling out. But I am most proud of my mold. I had never seen a mold tutorial so I asked one of my miniatures groups. I got plenty of suggestions, but as often happens, others' advice can push you toward an original solution. Lint from tumble-dryer! I want patent on it.

I am quite pleased with this assembly. It looks truly disgusting to me.

Next, I did the corner cabinet. I didn't bother putting stuff into it since it won't be visible at all. But the counter must be crammed and untidy. 

The objects are a mix of commercial, mostly from large ebay lots, and handmade or upcycled by me. For instance, I added labels to wooden playscale bottles. To make spilled milk I used Tipp-Ex. Few people today will even know what it is. In the Stone Age before computers, it was used to paint over typos in typewritten manuscripts. It dries fast and is perfect for mock liquids, but it is the first time I used it. I recently got a bottle from a friend who had apparently saved it for the past thirty years - thanks a lot! The baking trays come from an eye-shadow box, and I put some unidentifiable food there. The rotten fruit is some dried berries I had in my grocery stall project. 

The next step was the hob. I had a little pan with eggs and black pudding that I used as it was. I put some couscous in a pot and covered with mold since I now knew how to make it. There is also some general dirt and coffee stains.

Setting the table was exciting. Here I wanted spilled coffee, and to make it I used grey chalk paint mixed with brown acrylic. For the right effect, I filled the cup, then tipped it so the liquid ran out in a natural way. What was left of the coffee, I poured into other cups, then almost emptied them to leave a bit at the bottom. I made some stain rings as well - in real life, they make me want to yell. For cereal, I used a few fennel seeds and covered them with Tipp-Ex. I had made all the bread from Fimo at a workshop some time ago. The whisky bottle completes the image of the person who lives here.

I will stop here for the time being and consider further details. I don't think this scene tells the whole story yet.

To be continued.

Roman turret, part 4, in which a window is made

Read the previous posts about this project: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

I started today by cutting a window in the back wall.  With a good scalpel, it's straightforward.

I could leave it like this, but a window in a stone wall would be as deep as the wall is thick, so I need to add at least one layer of cardboard to achieve this depth.

 

A large back piece, held together with masking tape while the glue dries. As I have no egg cartons at the moment, it will be a while until I can do the stone masonry on the back. But as you cannot see it from the front, it's fine so far.

Then I cut through the back for the window.  The depth also enabled me to add a frame that looks more realistic.

 

Close-up:

As you see, I made the frame from coffee stirrers, putting it in the middle of the opening, which emphasises depth. I added filler to the edges. I may paint it over for a smoother surface.

I think it looks very nice.

As a next step, I realised, I need to fix the roof. It feels I will never get back to the partition and ladder, but with them in place, attaching the roof will be a problem.

I could cheat and just put the roof with gables on top, but in my model picture, there is no ceiling on the upper floor, just massive beams that hold the roof. So now I need to figure out how to construct this beam system and how to fix them onto the roof and onto the main structure.

I am sure you are curious about how I will manage it. Come back soon.

Roman turret, part 3, in which flagstones are cut

I finished my Roman turret project yesterday with rough estimates of how to insert the horizontal partition, add ladder and other woodwork.

But first of all I had to "whitewash" the interior walls again, and I also decided that at one place, whitewash has come off and some of the stone masonry is visible behind. Details like this add the sense of authenticity.

Remember that I had run out of egg cartons, and once again, I don't go shopping exclusively for something that will be recycled. But I still wanted to move on with the project, and the next step had to be the flagstone floor. In the absence of egg cartons I had to do with what I had, and yet another way to imitate flagstones (apart from clay and egg cartons) is a specially treated card. I think it used to be the back of an old college notebook.

 So first, obviously, cut strips of card and distress edges, as I did with the outside "stones".  Then moisten them between two layers of kitchen towel. Wrinkle up, then flatten and let dry. They will dry almost flat, but the surface will be slightly uneven.

I very deliberately left gaps between flagstones that I then filled with filler.

The dirt in front is real dirt from my garden. Just experimenting.

While things were drying, I started on some woodwork.

I showed the ladder yesterday, but I now I aged it by staining. I used Rustine's antique pine wood dye. The door is, like the ladder, made of coffee stirrers and stained. The floor was a bit more complicated with the opening in the middle, but it is so much smaller than the floors in my large house so it was quick to make. The simple rule is: sand until you drop dead.

I haven't even considered what scale it is because the shoe box was my point of departure. It is definitely smaller than 1:12, but larger than half-scale, so something in between, like Lundby or Playmobile. I will adjust all details as I add them.

The door must of course have hinges and a knob.

It will be a fake door, at least for the moment. Technically it leads out to the wall. If I add a bit of wall I may make a real, opening door. There should be two doors leading in both directions, but I will start with one and see how crammed the upstairs will look.

Before I move on I need to cut out a window in the back wall because it will be very awkward to do after I have added the partition. That's what keeps happening: I discover that I cannot move on until I have done something else. This is why instructions are helpful, taking you through the project step by step. And this is why I describe my project in so much detail.

But for now, with all the faults and incompleteness, here it is.

 

To be continued.

Roman turret

My summer holiday this year was a walk on Hadrian's Wall. I won't tell the whole story (can just say that it was wonderful), but at one point we were reading a sign explaining how Roman turrets were built and used, and on the sign was this picture:

Oh my, I thought. this looks like a miniature. (It probably was, unless it was a computer simulation). I can make one like this, I thought.

So here we go.

As usual, I went about for a while deciding what to use, and a shoe box felt the most natural choice. Just think portrait rather than landscape.

But of course the walls of a turret would be much more massive so I glued thick cardboard on the outside. And I glued a piece of cardboard to the bottom because I may add a bit of wall on both sides and a bit of road in front.

I have never done it myself, but of course the best miniature stone masonry is done with egg cartons. My husband knows that for the next couple of weeks he must save egg cartons for me. Fortunately, he is used to my crazy requests.

Stones must be cut one at a time, and the edges must be distressed for natural look. They also must be painted one at a time, because no two stones are exactly the same colour. I miscalculated the brown ones - they turned out far too conspicuous and had to be repainted. 

 

Now the building can begin.

 

Not really, I will need about ten times as much stones, but we had only one egg carton at home, and running to a supermarket on Sunday to get eggs entirely for the sake of the carton felt overdoing it. But I wanted to test what it would look like.

People always ask what kind of glue and paint and so on, so I used simple watercolors and all-purpose PVA.

Gluing one by one, at random. but on the whole I think it looks too light, I should probably paint it over again, a bit darker. When the glue had set, I added "mortar" (filler) for proper look.

It looks more natural this way, but I believe I will paint the mortar greyish as well. And of course I will sand it when it is dry.

I had almost run out of egg carton, so I didn't do the other wall, but instead glued some stones on the front edges - again, just to test.  I had about enough material to test flagstone floors. I once made flagstone floors from air-drying clay, and it looked great, but this time I will make it simpler. I also lined the interior walls with lining paper.

The next stage is inserting the horizontal divider, with proper beams etc and with an opening for the stairs. This is quite a demanding bit of engineering so I need to think more about it and decide whether I need extra supplies.

However, I really wanted to move on with the project, so I made a roof. I have used this technology before:

 

You can glue tile by tile, but in this case it doesn't matter, and this method is quicker. Typically I don't necessarily use quicker methods, because I enjoy making things slowly, but anyway, this is what I did.

I may paint it or leave it as it is, because it has a suitable, worn-out look.

So here is my Roman turret-to-be, not in the order it would have been built in real world, and I am not using slaves. But as with all miniature projects, you cannot help thinking about how they made it, how much time and labour it took, and how much knowledge and imagination.

To be continued.