2016 and Life go's on

Happy New Year, February already and life go's on and I keep forgetting to write about what I'm up too, so here go's finally!!!!.

I have been designing a 1930s Queenslander house kit based on a house my wife and I spotted when we where in Brisbane last year. I had been asked to do a Queenslander as a workshop for the Linnwood House workshop over the ANZAC weekend of April 23rd - 25th, which is the weekend before the Sydney Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair in May at Homebush. Because I had already sold quite a number of the 1920s Queenslander kit I didn't want to teach that so created the 1930s version instead, which is in the next architectural style, being what the call an asymmetrical design.

The workshop is almost completely booked out and to assist over the weekend I have Elizabeth Barnes and Adelaide Cann learning the assembly and finishing with me to assist in teaching, as well as my wife Elizabeth and Marilyn Pride to assist on the Monday when we will be doing landscaping. It should be a great weekend and I have people coming from all over Australia as well as New Zealand to do it. Elizabeth and Adelaide are now looking at doing new 1/48 kitchen and furniture kits to dress out the house.

I will be supplying 4 paint selections from the period as well as 1 of 3 random interior wallpaper schemes in the kit. We have decided that the Instructions will be mailed out to participants a week before the workshop so people will be able to have a jump start on the weekend.

I have also been working on a series of other 1/48th houses and buildings including an Art Deco single story house with attached garage, not the promised house, but a new one, as well as a Spanish revival mission house, an Art Deco petrol station and a small restaurant with car park and drive thru. These will be on display as part of a larger display of street scenes at the May show.  I have also created roads and foot paths that connect to the front of the houses and will populate these with cars and people. The pair of Fire vehicles now have working flashing lights and I really am tempted to set fire to a house to park them in front of. O well, maybe not today ?

As well as the above I've started on pieces to use to hopefully attain Artisan status through the IGMA. http://www.igma.org/    I am going for recognition in small scale structures and have to supply 3 structure pieces for consideration by the middle of April, which should be interesting. I am working on a pair of the same houses at the moment, but with some variation in execution, and will send off 1 of the 2 as well as a couple of other pieces. I have basically decided on the 2nd and 3rd pieces but I will leave details of these until after they have been considered by the committee in late April. I am taking what I do and giving them a twist forward. I look forward to showing you what I've done in May.

Until next time, hopefully not so far away.

yours in miniatures

Warren