Some Accessories for the Mid Century Room

This week I have been working on filling the Mid Century room with accessories. 

I made some art works that would be appropriate for the time period. I printed some abstract paintings, including a Chegall and Picasso. I then mounted and framed them. 

I also needed some magazines for the coffee table to give the room a homey feel. I printed some vintage Vogue and New Yorker covers from the internet and made the magazines up with layers of paper.

I also made a few books in the same way as the magazines. It was a challenge to find the cover art to print. I specifically looked for classic titles from the 1940s and 50s, including Catcher in the Rye, the Grapes of Wrath, and In Cold Blood.

I created a small liquor cabinet, with some whisky and a martini being prepared. 

There are also some 1950 stye christmas cards on the sideboard, in time for the holidays.

I made duplicates of my accessories, you can find them for sale at my Etsy store.

Now all I need is a lamp!

The First Daffodils of (Early) Spring

It is daffodil time in south eastern Australia right now. This is the lovely time in late of winter where the daffodil and jonquil bulbs think it is warm enough to flower. In light of this, and the fact that daffodils are my boyfriend's most favourite flower, I decided to purchase some hand made miniature daffodils from Etsy. I found some very realistic flowers from MostlyArt.

The flowers look lovely in the Biedermeier parlour of the Georgian house. 

They also look nice next to the John Glover painting. I think they will stay there.

Also, the outside of the Bungalow is coming along nicely. 

It is fun to see a little house at the end of the corridor when I get to the top of the stairs. 

The Gallery

This evening's entertainment has consisted of constructing a small tableaux to fool the eye.

Please do not sit.

The NEW house

No sooner has the last coat of paint dried on my Georgian house and I am planning the next house. The last house has taken more than a year to finish, so I have decided to make the new one smaller and more manageable. This one will have a Scandinavian feel. It will be one story with small attic rooms. I am not planning on having a kitchen, just a central hall with a sitting room to the left, and a dining room to the right. These are some idea sketches:

I finally settled on this four room plan (with central hall and staircase). It will also have legs.

I think I will use MDF this time (the last house was ply wood). Ply splinters and warps much too easily. 

Im not sure if the facade is balanced enough, or if it is too busy. I will have to dwell on it for a few days. Next weekend is a long weekend, so I plan to construct the shell then. 

While I was plotting my next house this afternoon, I took a moment to colour some frames I bought gold. I haven't decided what to paint in them yet.

I think perhaps this time I will copy an Arthur Streeton painting to continue with the Australian theme.  

A Tiny Amount of Australian Colonial Art

I am a particular fan of John Glover (1767 - 1849) the Australian colonial artist, who is best known for his faithful representations of the Tasmanian and Australian landscape. Glover is famous for being one of the first European artists to accurately capture the light and form of the Australian landscape. On a recent visit to Hobart, I bought a book of his works.

A particular favourite of mine is "My Harvest Home" painted in 1835 (below).

I set about creating a copy for the dollhouse. It took about 3 hours.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what kind of frame the original hangs in, so I went for a plain one.

It is now hanging in the dining room.

Miniature Manet or Tiny Titian?

When it comes to dollhouse art I am very discerning. A house needs art. Having studied art history at university I consider myself terribly well qualified to undertake such important decisions. 

My boyfriend's father thoughtfully bought me some tiny sticker pictures the other day that I thought would do just fine. I cut out the terrible pixilated prints to liberate my nice frames. 

Edward Hopper went particularly well in the parlor.

However, I came to the conclusion that some "originals" were also necessary. But what artist? A Titian allegory? Perhaps a beautiful Manet? In the end I settled on an arcadian landscape by Poussin.

I used water colour pencil because it is much less messy than paint and allows for a "painted" look without the fuss of mixing colours - it's kind of a cheat. 

My pea-sized Poussin looks very charming in the dining room.