Ilona's gifts.

Hello Every One,

I would like to give a very warm welcome to my new followers, thank you so much for stopping by.

I finally had the right light to photograph the beautiful little gifts I received from Ilona after commissioning her to make a Magnolia branch for Ambrosia Place. Every little detail has been thought of, notice the Magnolia Fragrance bottle in the centre, an envelope complete with a Magnolia post card inside, some printed canvases for framing and the white linen I have shown you before. All the little feminine bottles are made by her careful hand including the tiny little nail polish bottle with a lid that comes of and brush inside. So many lovely things that will add a feminine touch to Ambrosia Place, I just love the candle and the hat is so elegant trimmed in apricot roses, I couldn't resist placing with my CoCo mademoiselle.

Thank you so much Ilona, you know how I will always treasure these thoughtful gifts.

Much love to you all, Fi xx

P.S I didn't photo shop those top photos, it's all the real thing.

Artists Choice?

Firstly, Hello and welcome to my new followers, it's lovely to have you stop by, I really appreciate anyone that takes the time to have a look at my Blog.

Today is just a quick one as Paul and I have been away this week end and I haven't got to any miniatures recently. I must say whilst I love and adore my children it was a whole new experience to have each others undivided attention over the weekend without the interruption of teenage expectations. We stayed at The Blackman hotel which is part of a series of Hotels dedicated and named after some of Australia's most significant Artists. Charles Blackman is one of my favourites and if you click on the link you will see a little about the Hotel and the Artist. Yesterday we spent the day at the Heide Gallery of Modern Art which is something we have been meaning to do for some time. I had a wonderful day, Heide is a very important mark on the Australian Artistic landscape. The original house was the home of John and Sunday Reed who were two very influential people in Australia's Modern art movement. They supported a community of  Artists who today are known as our finest and as you can imagine there are all sorts of tales of love and betrayal that emerged as the group came in and out of each others lives. I will leave you to read about them if you wish by clicking on the link above. Needless to say we had a wonderful time exploring the Art and the grounds not to mention the wonderful food and wine.

Now given the Artistic tone so far I thought I would show you the little experiments I have been doing. I have for some time liked the idea of making authentic miniature stretchers to paint on, by authentic I mean as a quality artist would make and that is with an oak frame and a linen support. Easier said than done!! Firstly I don't have a mini saw to cut small straight lengths, I can cut them okay but they must be perfectly straight to get a straight frame right? Not going to happen. Okay, I can cut a straight piece of oak and then stretch the linen around it, yep, I can do that but when it comes to hammering the pins in, (pictured in front of the white stretcher ) not only are they incredibly small and I can't hold them in place but the oak is so hard I have no chance of penetrating it. Okay I'll glue it down, yes that works but not how I wanted it to be and  I like the look of the nails down the side of the stretcher......grrrr!! Okay, next try, wrap the linen around a piece of balsa wood and press the pins in, yep that works, if I can cut down on the tiny pins flying through the room and landing in the sisal mat never to be seen again ( except by the vacuum cleaner) it has the look I'm going for but not the quality. What to do? Perhaps painting directly on the oak (with a ground of course) would at least be a more authentic way of painting a picture? Yes that might have to be the answer if I am to have a piece of artwork that is close to real life. I tried painting on the linen (the little chicken) just to see wether the weave might be too thick but I think it worked okay. The little chicken was just a tester, I can use as a filler in the storage of the studio when I get to it in the next 5 years....lol 

I'll keep you posted on the final results of painting on the oak board.

Meanwhile.......

Santa, can I please have a mini saw????

Happy minis every one.

ML Fi xx