The editorial retreat

Canberra is only a little over 3 hours from Sydney by car, and a friend of mine travels up regularly to visit her mother. She offered me a lift up this weekend and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to meet with the Editor of The tiny Times, talk about my new role as her assistant, and start planning the magazine for the year.

I was fortunate enough to find a good last-minute deal on a two bedroom apartment not far from her house, close to where my friend was driving, and overlooking Lane Cove National Park.

After a quick grocery run, we settled in for a weekend's work:

Actually, much as our bush-sheltered back yard was a tempting place to work,

the heat and mugginess soon had us heading back inside to the cool of the air conditioner. Where we were tempted to take the hotel up on their offer:

(We assumed, since the freezer with the sticker was empty apart from the three ice-less trays, they were suggesting we just stick our heads in there for a spell)

 Saturday afternoon was dedicated to big-picture planning and making a mess of the lounge

while assessing the piles of back issues.

 We stopped for a scarily healthy dinner, somehow completely forgetting about the frozen pizza and the burnt fig ice cream that we had added to the empty freezer.

 This morning I got to do some quick upskilling in Publisher and some editing before it was time to check out.

Lunch at IKEA was followed by a bit of a buying frenzy. I picked up this fabulous rubber flooring, and a bunch of magnetic notice boards for mini use and a pile of stuff for full-sized use:

(The chair was one of a set given to me by my Editor)

Fabulous Friday (in a non-miniature way)

My friend from work and I made our first pilgrimage for the year out to the Typo factory outlet after work today and had to giggle when we saw this sign in front of one of the green boxes:

(Why yes, you're right. You obviously know us too well...)

Of the nine items I bought for $1 each, the only miniature-related one was a wall calendar which I only got for the 'posters' on the back page:

The purchases that did give me minor heart palpitations were this lemonade vase ($1 because there was a 'stain' on it, which disappeared soon after I pulled out the paste cleaner at home) and white hydrangea fairy lights ($1 because the lid of the packaging was missing):

Be still my beating heart...

Thursday: Thinking it through

As I try to ease into the new year, I'm trying to be mindful of my priorities for the coming year. And focus on my 'big rocks'.

As part of this concept, I'm playing with the idea of giving each day of the week a theme (you've probably already got a hint of this) which will hopefully mean I won't be constantly stressed by the things I'm not doing but rather will have the ability to assign a day on which they'll be dealt with and thus be able to concentrate more fully on what I want to achieve today.

So tonight, instead of giving myself grief because I'm not making a scene to blog, I'll share some random photos from my worktable, and spend that time checking that the rocks I've locked in already have been given the time they need in order to come to fruition.

The first mini swap of the year. A new volunteer role assisting with the production of the Australian Miniature Enthusiast's Association magazine. Oh: and doing the dishes after having friends over for dinner last night.

 Which makes me think that in 2014 this blog may widen its horizons again to include not-quite-miniature-related posts.

So, to test the waters, may I introduce this week's work lunches?

 Tuesday

Wednesday

and Thursday. (We're very fortunate to be located in front of a church with a lovely tree-shaded park, just perfect for a lunchtime picnic.)

The light's on but nobody's home

A busy day at work (have I really only been back three days?!) plus friends over for dinner means I didn't make it into my studio until after 9pm.

So it's a basic scene tonight. But it does remind me that I need to go and see if Typo has their book reading lights in their stores yet. At $6.95 each full price I think I'll pick up a handful if they're a good size for mini work.

Tuesday: tidy it up

No time to blog. Have decided it's time to find my desk. And my work table... Maybe my work bench.... Possibly even the floor in the Room of Shame (but perhaps that's going just a bit far for a work night).

Monday: make, do and mend

Rather than put the Little Building Co. cottage that I picked up in Brisbane into the pile of things to be done (where it would disappear for a very long time), I figured I should open it up and see what was involved with getting it together.

Seems pretty straight forward.

And a dry fit works well.

But then I got to the point where I really do need to glue some things and wait for them to dry before I proceed.

 At least I made a start. And while I am downstairs waiting for the glue on this to dry, maybe I can glue a few more things together...

Gift shop gains

I picked up a few mini treasures from the gift shops of the Brisbane cultural precinct.

A Queensland Art Gallery 'Art' cutout postcard and birdhouse pencil sharpener, displayed with a miniature maneki-neko.

Justine Cooper's Accession books postcard and Third Drawer Down's Ai Weiwei sunflower seeds handkerchief (used as flooring)

 And Robert MacPherson's Mayfair (Swamp rats) ninety-seven signs for C.P., J.P., B.W., G.W. & R.W. 1994-95 postcard.

 I also picked up a Little Building Co cottage: although at 1/100 it's probably too big to use in a miniature scene so will be added to my collection of miniature (non-dolls') houses. When I get around to putting it together, that is...

Final photos

Here are the rest of the photos from my visit to the California Design 1930–1965: Living in a Modern Way exhibition in Brisbane:

Eames lounge chair and wall design based on decorative cinder blocks (I have a bit of a thing for them and am always hopeful that I'll stumble across someone who makes them in miniature...)

 A full set of Arts & Architecture. When I spotted these in the library area of the exhibition (I forgot to photograph that: suffice to say it contained a(nother) Eames lounge chair and a shelf full of delicious exhibition-related books you were invited to read). I wanted to move in until I'd finished the lot. Of course, I could have bought my own set from the pop-up gift shop but didn't have a spare $1,350 in my budget (or the inclination to lug a 17 kilo box of books back to the airport on the train...) I took a photo of the spines so at least I can create my own miniature version of them.

I love La Gardo Tackett's (PDF link) garden sculptures so was pleased to see them in the exhibition, and it reminded me to keep an eye out for beads that I could use to create my own miniature versions.

They also had one of his planters on display. The frame reminded me of Fred Ward's wastepaper basket for the National Library.

 Seeing the Ackermanns' Elipses mosaic panel reminded me that I have some mosaic tiles tucked away somewhere that I'd planned to use in miniature. Must dig them out.

 And, finally there was an Eames storage unit.

The woman next to me commented how fabulous it was to be able to see it in such close detail, and I agreed as I snapped these pictures:

(And wished someone would manufacture metal leg units like this in miniature). Seeing the construction detail of such an early Eames design reminded me of how I felt when I saw the details of some of Vivienne Westwood's early pieces when they were on display at the National Gallery. I find it intriguing to see where people started and what they built on in their work.

So there we are. Thank you for letting me be your virtual tour guide, and remember to exit through the gift shop...

California design, miniature inspiration

So, finally, some photos of the pieces in the California Design 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way exhibition for your inspiration and edification...

First up, Richard Neutra's chair from the Channel Heights Housing Project (1941-42):

(And look! Here's Neutra’s 'recipe' for constructing it, just in case anyone's wanting to whip up a miniature version... *WEG*)

Next up, a chair designed by Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Marli Ehrman in 1940 for the Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition:

(Much harder to create in miniature...)

Unlike this Greta Grossmann Gräshoppa lamp, which seemed oddly familiar.

Speaking of Greta Grossmann, the next piece that caught my eye was her 3 panel folding screen for Glenn of California, which would be fun to create in miniature:

And the final piece for today. I loved this coffee table by Milo Baughman (also for Glenn of California):

(Especially the little hidey-hole to store the junk on your coffee table when unexpected visitors arrived)

And I just have to say here that I'm still really sad that Modernism Magazine has died. That magazine taught me a lot about things I had no idea I was interested in until I started reading the article in the magazine...

Randomly relevant reading

As I left the house to head to the airport yesterday, I made a last-minute decision that taking a book to read during the four hours I'd be in the air was all very well and good, but would mean lugging it round all day (and less room for new books to follow me home), and so I swapped it over for an unread copy of Wallpaper* off my pile.

It turns out it was a brilliant move.

See those post it note tags? Every one marks something miniature related:

1. Scout Regalia's miniature plywood replicas of its wares on page 122.

2. Wallpaper* thoughtfully included a miniature version of the insert cover on page 1 of its Polska revealed insert. And on the opposite page there's an article about the Keret House art installation, which is 92cm wide at its narrowest point and 152 cm at its widest. Currently used as a temporary home for travelling writers, it made me think further about the directions I could take my concept for The Garrets.

3. Miniio makes an appearance on page 7 of the supplement, with their Miniko 1:6 scale dolls' house.

4. The final to pages of the supplement have some fabulous modernist houses from Warsaw, just crying out to be recreated in miniature.

5. Guest editors Elmgreen & Dragset have some interesting and thought-provoking things to say about fictional homes including 'how artists have used the domestic space: 'The style of the domestic setting can function as an indicator of social background, talk about a period of time, portray a certain taste, desire and perversion, but it can also create a psychological drama, even be used as a political statement. Or simply function as a relaxed everyday platform for social interaction...' (Sound familiar?)  Elmgreen & Dragset have created a scene in full size at the V& A in London, which made me giggle (when I wasn't peering intently at the 'architect's' models dotted around the space.)

6. And just when I thought there couldn't be more, I turned to the section guest edited by Laurie Simmons. (Name sound familiar? So it should.) Intriguingly, she's moved from working with minis into working with full-sized dolls to create scenes.

I'd recommend trying to get your hands on a copy of this issue if you're a modern miniaturist: plenty of inspiration inside!

(*That's not a 'there's more info later in the piece' asterisk, 'Wallpaper*' is the name of the magazine. So I didnt need to have this footnote at all but thought I should just in case...)