Friday, March 03, 2017

Finding my focus

Here I was beating myself up because I hadn't done much in the way of minis last month (you know, despite the usual summer heat sapping my energy, a couple of weeks fighting something off (which, as I wander through my archives, seems also to be a late-summer tradition) and then, finally, succumbing to several days in bed to finally see it off. Oh, and that small fact that this is supposed to be my hobby, not an obligation...)

And then this evening I downloaded my Instagram photos and discovered that there had, indeed, been a stream of miniatures through my life over the past couple of weeks.

First up was the arrival of what I have now dubbed The Boomerang Box:

Small box tied with string, on top of a padded mailing envelope.
Which contained (amongst other treats) a custom rubber stamp (which I knew about), and a miniature Shopping Sherpa tote (which I didn't!).
Small box on top of a padded mailing envelope, open to show a dolls house miniature tote bag and a rubber stamp.
In true Pepper-always-the-eye-for-detail style, itcontained a miniature wallet to pay for the miniature shopping that was going to be put inside...
Miniature tote bag and one-twelfth scale wallet.
Later the same week, J&M and I went to a Friday-night event at Gorman Arts Centre and stumbled across an intriguing-looking exhibit by Tom Buckland at CCAS:
A woman peering into one of several small holes in an art gallery wall, while another woman looks on.
Titled Constellation, each peephole contained a tiny scene.
A woman peering into one of several small holes in an art gallery wall.
 (Which turned out to be very difficult to photograph well with a phone camera!)
Tiny miniature 'open 24 hrs' sign, seen through a peep hole.
Tiny McDonalds sign, seen through a peep hole.
There's a much better photo of the scene below on Tom's Facebook page, for instance,
Tiny miniature cowboy figure, seen through a peep hole.
 and more photos of the scenes on his Instagram page.
Tiny miniature shopping carts in a desert, seen through a peep hole.
Tiny miniature man in coveralls, sitting in front of a bank of miniature TV sets, seen through a peep hole.
The eagle-eyed amongst you (hey, if you're a miniaturist, that's all of you), will have noticed some of the peep holes had small buttons beneath them. If you pressed the buttons, there was light and/or movement in the scenes.

Once again, I did the best I could with the camera I had:
Finally, speaking of videos: I had two sightings of dolls houses on screen in the past week.

First up, was in the children's bedroom of the (rather excellent) movie Hidden Figures, which I took myself to see last Friday afternoon.

And this evening I spotted this beauty in the hallway of a house in the first episode of the 70s/80s TV show Sapphire and Steel (which I remember loving as a child, when I found it cheap on DVD at latest Lifeline Bookfair):
Screen shot of a vintage dolls house in the 1970s TV programme Sapphire and Steel.
(See it for yourself at around 18:50 of this video on YouTube)

So, as I stare at the range of bits and bobs on my desk (accumulated since the beginning of the year, and waiting to be dealt with now that it's cooler (and I'm better)), I've decided that I need to stop being so hard on myself and just try to have fun. 
Selection of pieces for use in a one-twelfth scale dollshouse scene, including a glittery guitar, a jar of miniature shells and some metal pieces.
(Because, really, what says 'fun' more than a glittery guitar, a flying duck, a slightly cross-eyed owl and two fried eggs? Especially when they're small enough to stick in your pocket?)

3 comments:

  1. Well, I think the guitar should become the base for a miniature homage to Alex's upcoming exhibition. I'm so glad it will still be on when I get to Canberra at the end of the month.

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  2. The last photo of misc minis is very satisfying to me. :D I love that tiny tote, too! So cute! :D

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  3. m1k1: Glad it'll still be on while you're here (fancy going together and having lunch afterwards?), and odd you should mention doing an homage: I was thinking along the same lines when I spotted a bag of miniature cogs in my stash the other day... :-D

    otterine: Thanks, me too. In fact I woke up at 3.30 am this morning thinking about how I could make a scene with a glittery guitar, a flying duck, a slightly cross-eyed owl and two fried eggs in it!

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