Musings on Modern Miniatures

in De Stijl - so to speak

2012-02-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

I know puns are the lowest form of humour but I can't miss a chance like this.

Stephanie commented she thought there was some feel of Mondrian in the golden section display cases. He and Gerrit Rietveld belonged to the Dutch design group De Stijl (The Style). I understand that it was Mondrian who suggested the Red/Blue colour scheme to Reitveld - the original chair was plain wood. In any event here's my photo of the pieces together.

Red/Blue chairs and display unit

A Couple of Golden Section Display units

2012-02-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

I mentioned previously I had a couple of other display units based to some extent on the golden section. These particular units are about 6" (15cm tall) but scale down quite nicely; the golden section is a ratio of side lengths, not a fixed number.

Golden sections and rectangles

2012-02-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

I've recently completed a couple of books on the use of the golden section in design - yes I know I have to get a life - and made a couple of pieces trying to use the value as much as possible. This display unit is one result. It works both as a vertical and horizontal piece.

About 6 " 15 cm tall

Here's a shot with one of Neil Carter's nice deco pieces on display. I have a couple of other units that I will take photos of and add here. There are some other examples shown in my modern furniture pages. I've also made some "clip on" led lights, so the individual compartments can be lit up. Putting a back on the piece is a good idea as it hides the wires - also means it's easy to make battery powered.

Same unit, horizontal orientation

New small table - and trying to show the figured wood top

2012-01-31T22:03:00.000-08:00

I was rummaging through my "nice pieces of wood to use some day" and came across a chunk of figured maple that the late great Ken Manning (of mini instruments fame) gave. I decided that it would work well in a small table so I put together what I think is a quite elegant little piece. The trick is showing people the amazing figure in the maple top. I finally decided that short of a video, the best way would be to take several pictures from the same vantage point, and rotate the table so the top does its magic. It still isn't as good as actually seeing the changes as you move your head, but is a step in the right direction. The table is about 3 " (7.5 cm) long and the maple is trimmed with ebony.

The jig(s) is up.

2012-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

Ouch - terrible pun. In any event, moving right along, I recent had an order for one the classic Reitveld Red-Blue chairs, which is one of my all time favourite designs, although I wouldn't actually sit in one unless forced to. It is VERY low, and obviously not well padded.

It also is a "challenge" to make. Each of the "sticks is less than 3/32 " square (2.5 mm) which is a very small gluing surface. In addition, everything has to be perfectly square. I do 2 things to help me keep my sanity making the chair; I use lots of jigs and Scotch - no, no, brass pins, to hold the joints.

In no particular order, here are some snaps of the various jigs being used in the construction process.

a new cabinet base for a shelf unit

2011-11-23T22:11:00.001-08:00

As part of a recent commission I've been playing with a new look for a low base to support a shelving unit. The idea was to raise the shelf unit up high enough off the floor so the contents of the lower sections could be seen. I think this may do the trick. It's made of rosewood and ebony and stands about 1.75 inches (4.4 cm) tall and 5 inches (12.4 cm long). The length was dictated by the niche where the unit is to go in the client's room box. The doors are real glass and do slide. Getting them in place was a "joy" shall we say? I'll put up the complete piece - base and shelf when I've got a suitable photo.

square tiles on floor are 1/2 inch square

getting the drop on a space problem

2011-09-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

First - please excuse the bad pun.

One of my clients had a problem; she had a small room box but wanted quite a variety of furniture in it, including a dining table and some chairs. I suggested a couple of stackable chairs and a drop leaf table. The table is quite small when closed and against a wall - just about 20 scale inches (50 cm) deep and 24 (60 cm)wide, but opened fully it is 68 inches (173 cm) long.

The brass circles are the ends of rods I used to peg the cross piece joint. I thought they and a nice contrast to the rich wood colour.

I only have one swing out support - hey it's my design and this keeps it lighter looking.

More new furniture

2011-09-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've been focusing on furniture lately, partly because I can only have so many room boxes on hand (sort of LOL). I came across another interesting Paul Frankl design that I modified slightly - a low bookcase. This piece clearly shows the influence oriental designs had on Mr Frankl. I took this photo of it beside the coffee table I recently made as well. The bookcase is about 29 scale inches high.

Based on Paul Frankl originals

thing-of-purpose table

I recently came across a napkin ring that just begged me to get it and do something with it; so I did. The result is a table about 17 scale inches tall, with a acrylic top. I'll have something on it when I take photos for the web site, but I sort of like the "art photo/sculpture" aspect of this shot.

More Frankl Art Deco furniture

2011-08-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

While doing some research for a commission, I came across a goldmine of images of Art Deco period furniture by the American Designer Paul Frankl at an old auction listing

I am in the process of "miniaturizing" a number of the pieces: here, for example, is a progress shot of my take on an oriental coffee table. Among the changes - different colours, discarded the black glass top as superfluous in this colour scheme, and removed the metal rod supports as well.

I couldn't resist the raspberry from my garden as an indication of scale. The table is 14.5 scale inches tall and 28 inches long. I'm probably going to do the occasional table as one of my next projects.

2011-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been doing things although you wouldn't know it from the blog. One item was a request from a long time customer for a light based on a Kharbarosk Lamp. After many false starts - making the complete rings out of wood was one issue - I came up with this:

Uses an LED for the light source

It's about 1.5 inches - 3.75 cm tall and the rings are about 7/8th inches - 2.2 cm in diameter.

I also spent some time making a pair of Frankl dressers - in Birds' Eye maple that also proved challenging but overall I think they came out well. These are another item that proves hard to photograph well. The wood patterns actually are much more attractive when seen "live". I'm working on a version in plain woods that should photograph better. These were BIG dressers - 77 inches 195 cm. tall.

battery powered track light

2011-06-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

I just completed an order which included a battery powered track light. I'm quite pleased with the final product although it did end up requiring more work than I first thought. For one, I had to mill out part of the channel (base) interior so the battery I had selected would fit. The final product is quite nice however.

Back from London - definitely not richer but possibly wiser!

2011-06-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well, let's hit the high points of the KDF show first - well organized, nice venue, many quality dealers who are also, naturally being miniaturists, very nice people to meet and talk to. Many complements on my designs and work BUT not enough people actually following up by opening their wallets. Mind you the economy and a 20% sales tax doesn't help, but STILL! Fortunately we stayed on for and extra 10 days and really enjoyed London. We were told that it was the warmest, driest spring ever and we only had 1/2 hour of rain in the whole time we were there. Did a lot of museum visiting.
Well, back to the drawing board: I am filling a number of orders for battery operated lights including one for one of my e head track light units and a fireplace flicker unit. There seems to be a market for that at least for now.
I saw some commercial (and to be fair - much cheaper - and old fashioned styled) battery operated LED table lights and a chandelier at the Vancouver Miniatures show on Sunday and they were really very cold/bluish. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone right now.

a new Art Deco or modern light and chair

2011-05-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Just some more playing around trying to get a enough unique items to generate some buzz (and sales of course!) at te next show. The light has 9 LEDs in it and the rings alternate between chrome and gold plating - kind of hard to make out in the photo.

My LED lights with batteries - first conversions

2011-04-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

At teh Chicago show I was asked if I could make my LED lights work off batteries. Naturally I said yes and then had to come home and figure out how I was actually going to do it. My first effort turned out quite well I think. I was asked to convert one of my sconces, so the first thing I did was figure out what size battery I could hide behind it. A CR2032 3 volt button battery fit the space available. I then added some thickness to the sconce sides to largely conceal the battery and on/off switch. I added some magnets - very small magnets to the back and supplied a piece of self adhesive metal strip to go on the wall - and presto chango (and 3 hours of work) later. a battery powered sconce. My battery life test indicates that one can expect at least 3 - 4 days constant running (72 -96 hours) for the battery which I think is pretty good. The photo on the other hand is bad, but will have to do for now.

some new lights as well

2011-04-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Getting some more new items ready - this time a Deco style light fixture, which has a background made using French banding from the 1930's - we won't see anything like it again.

same light - one off one on, about 2.5" 6cm in diameter

about 2.75" or 7 cm in diameter

The second light can be a vanity or dressing table light - it would also work as a chandelier I suspect. The centre is a glass mirror. It's a tad hard to see, but the backing is a black hexagon shape. Both fixtures use LEDs

another show so more modern furnishings

2011-04-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

No rest for the wicked, so I'm back in the studio preparing new items for my next sow - the KDF (Kensington Dollhouse Festival. I've made some pieces that are variations on previous work, and, of course, some completely new designs. One of the latter is this dressing table, with a beautiful piece of Olice wood for the top. The drawer is Holly with an inlay strip

Dressing table - Olive, Holly and Jatoba woods - about 4 inches or 10 cm long

Panels rotate and can be interchanged - about 6 " 15 cm tall

For this screen, I left the top uncapped, so the various coloured panels and be moved from post to post to create new designs. Each panel is about 1.16 " or 3 cm wide

inlaid shelving unit - glass is 3" - 7.5 cm long

by hook or crook it lights the spot

2011-03-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Shepherd’s crook light

A new light, this one can serve as a reading light or as an accent light as well. The base is a block of machined 1/4 inch thick aluminum set in a Pear wood rectangle. The light source(s) is a group of LEDs. I just grabbed the first chair that came to hand; it probably would look better with one of my modern chairs.

new sculpture/light

2011-03-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Living as I do in a major earthquake zone, it’s a little hard to get too excited today about miniatures while thinking about the tragedies in Japan. Who knows when it will be our turn.
None the less, I still have to make a living, so here’s a variation on a theme. My client asked me to make all the columns on this sculpture under-lit, and as the customer is always (well, usually) right, I modified the piece. Of course that also meant I needed to create a new base to accommodate the additional electronics.The piece is about 2.5 inches (6 cm) tall.

My closing though today is from John Donne
- MEDITATION XVII circa 1624 from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

new month - new light design

2011-02-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

sort of shows how it lights the work area

close-up to show details

Working hard to avoid finishing other projects I spent a little time to design and make this desk lamp. In my entirely unbiased opinion it’s kind of cool. The base is aluminum, LED light source - about an inch (.25cm) tall - I haven’t measured it yet.

Is “quoting“ my photos a complement?

2011-01-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

I had a cheap laugh today. I was doing some research on furniture by Paul Frankl, on the internet, and what did Google turn up? Sites like antique stores and auction houses using my photos(unattributed of course) of MY furniture, based on Paul Frankl originals, but not the same, as photos of actual Frankl furniture. I guess that’s flattering!?

another light “thing”

2011-01-21T15:48:00.000-08:00

About 5 inches (12 cm tall)

the bench is 5 inches or 12 cm long

Well, I have continued my exploring with light piping. This time I wanted to se the effect of twisting a square length of acrylic would do to light patterns. It does work in interesting ways, although again capturing it for the web is tricky. I’ve also added a photo of it beside a bench that is headed to the Kruger collection at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I must say I feel pretty good about that!

new lights - sculptures

2011-01-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

Well, no one else makes them like this.

I decided it was time to get creative again (easier to do when there is no order back-log) and I started designing new lights that really are sculptures. The first one, which is about 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall, is the subject of the photos. The drawback to the lights is that they are extremely hard to photograph and successfully convey how they look “live“. The bottom of the base is illuminated.

here it is beside one of my Morris chairs - for scale - with additional light

rotated 180 degrees

turned 90 degrees (more or less)

other end, from a higher angle.

out from under the backlog

2010-11-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

I've more or less finally got completely up-to-date on my orders, so now I get to create new things again. One new light that was part of the order backlog was a plant stand with an illuminated top. After a couple of false starts I decided on a simple rectangular column of aluminium and painted wood with a translucent top. I think it came out quite respectably. It's about 3 inches (7.6cm) tall and the light source is an LED.

finally - some updates - making a lamp

2010-09-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

One of the problems with modern designs is that a lot of the work that goes into making something that looks clean and sleek is not visible. I was making a couple of lights today for an order and took some photos of part of the process - making the base.

Here's a shot of one I made several years ago
and here are some of the steps to make one: I left out the trivial ones like hack-sawing through 1/2 inch (12.5mm) aluminium bar and cutting the acrylic tubing. Clicking on any photo should enlarge it.

smooth ends

centre drill hole for wires

enlarge hole and drill through base

turn shoulder on base so acrylic tube will fit snugly, but won't split if the aluminium expands with the heat of the light or changes in room temperature. The acrylic also expands, but at a different rate.

test fit and turn some more

clean up the exterior

on my mill, mill channel for power cord so base will sit flat

now just assemble the LED electronics and they're done. If you look REALLY closely you can see the groove in the base of the right hand light.

nothing to it! I wish

crunch time

2010-07-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

I' m getting ready for a workshop and being reminded just how many parts go into nine roomboxes. The sawdust has generated has been impressive. When I get back from running the workshop I'll have some time to focus again on some new modern designs. I picked up some incredibly thin and badable plywood -0.8mm thin (that's less than 1/32 of an inch)! I should be able to get some great shapes for furniture bending and laminating that stuff.

blogger is confused

2010-07-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

Google/blogger is have the sulks and is refusing some comments. If you don't se your comment, please re-post it

film at 9 - the flickering sign

2010-07-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

It took me a while to get the video - little things, like an emergency trip to Montreal to visit my 90 year dad got in the way, but here is a bit of video showing the effect. I'm using several sets of LEDs, one for the top letters and another for the flicker which I run through a circuit from ngineering which I also sell for $13.95 (assembly with LEDs extra)

getting from the “bright idea” to making the flickering sign

2010-06-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

It always seems to end up this way; I get a good idea, figure out the hard part, and spend hours and/or days on what was supposed to be the simple part. The flickering electronics part of the seedy hotel room sign is worked out, tested and approved. Now “all“ that remains is making the letters for the sign itself. Once upon a time it would have been easy to get all kinds of stencils so I could airbrush the background and the lettering of the sign. Now of course everything is done with computers and finding Letraset and/or stencils is really difficult. Looks like I may have to cut my own; something I was hoping to avoid so I could save time. I’ve spent more time looking for time savers than it will actually take me to cut the darn things.

paid to be messy

2010-06-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm working on a really different project for a good client: a room box that is supposed to be shabby, run down and generally seedy. It is quite strange to prepare one of my hardwood floors, laid down 1/4 inch (about 1 cm) strip by strip and not only not worry about getting glue on the surface, but actually check and make sure I have enough glue spots to make for good stains when I finish the floor.
In a similar fashion, when painting the interior trim, instead of masking all the wallpaper, I made sure some paint got on the floor and on the wallpaper: sort of like being in grade 1 again! I also so going to be providing a flickering sign visible out of a window - sort of a failing Neon sign effect - should be very cool.

I'll post some pictures once the room is reassembled

responding to Heather's question about looking for ideas/information

2010-05-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

This is a question that I don't really have a good answer for.

Most of my designs are a result of going into my studio, looking at the woods and other items I have around and playing with the materials. I read a lot of magazines and books, but most of my designs just "appear".

The table in the photo was the result of my looking at a piece of spalted (partially decayed) maple branch that I had in my wood pile. I realized that if I took 2 slices and flipped one of them end to end with the other, I would get an interesting design. The wood dictated the design of the piece to me.
The more comfortable I get with something, the more I can design with it. With lights for example, I now have much more freedom to experiment because I know how to control their brightness, how to use multiple light sources in a single fixture, and, very important, what won't work. I guess my advice would be to just play with the materials until you get something you like - not much help I must admit.

So where are the comments?

2010-05-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

There is a bug in blogger right now that sometimes results in comments not being displayed unless you actually click on the comment count below each posting. I'm trying to get this fixed so I can respond to your comments, but right now it's out of my control. Until that's fixed, I've added a gadget to some the most recent comments at the bottom of the page.

more on the KDF show

2010-05-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

One of the items that I displayed that generated a lot of comment (and a sale -YES!) was a screen that could serve to separate areas in a room. The inspiration came from a lacquered screen by Eileen Gray from the deco period. As best I can tell, Eileen Gray is not too well known in North America, but she was influential in the French Deco scene.
Please note that the picture on the Victoria and Albert museum site is shown sideways! The rods run top to bottom, not side to side. I've notified the museum so this may change. I thought that my version provided a bit more flexibility in miniature scenes. It doesn't photograph all that well because it's not shown in any context. It's about 6 inches (15 cm) tall and each of the panels rotates separately. The back of each panel is plain, so you can get a wide variety of effects by rotating elements

Just back from The London - Kensington Dollhouse Festival

2010-05-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Staggered back tonight from London and I can testify that a 10 hour flight crossing 8 timezones has it's side effects.
The show was interesting, with many dealers that I had not come across before; not to surprising considering I hadn't done a show in the England before. Once again I was one of a very few people doing modern design, and probably the only one that was doing primarily original modern designs. Sales were, unfortunately few and far between which is quite common when doing a show for the first time. Fortunately the main reason for the trip was to have a bit of a vacation which did go well.

on a hot streak light and sculpture

2010-05-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Once I made the initial table, I had to make new items to display on it, so I made a new table lamp and a "thing of purpose" out of acrylic. I used an LED in the table light; they are pretty much my standard now although they do take a extra hour or so of work to create. It does add a lot of freedom to the way I can design and build the lights, so it's worth it.

2010-05-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, managed to get the first version done today. It's a little guy - about 4 inches long and 2 1/4 inches tall. Bloodwood top, Jatoba base Ebony angles on the top's bottom - so to speak

getting close to the next show - so it must be time for a change

2010-05-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason (procrastination perhaps...) I tend to do my most creative work when there is the least amount of time available for it. With the Kensington Dollhouse Festival coming next week, I decided it time to try working with a relatively new material - carbon fiber. I have made a light using this stuff and it is quite interesting; very light and very strong for its weight. For example, in the photo of the light the glass cube is 1 inch square, so the carbon rod holding up the light "head" is pretty darn thin.

It is also very rigid for any given diameter, so I'm going make a hall or side table with offset diagonal legs - something like the sketch. The idea is to have the top almost float above the base. The rods will be about 0.030 inches thick.
I'm also thinking of having the diagonals run in opposite directions - forming an "X" but the legs are separated. We'll see...

lessons learnt at the Chicago International

2010-04-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Chicago show proved to be somewhat stressful, but resulted in enough orders for me to return a happy camper. My new lights were very positively received and my new plug setup worked exactly as I had hoped- no lights flickered and/or died during the entire show and when required, it was very easy to unplug any given light. I'm definitely going to recommend to clients that I install lights in roomboxes using this kind of plug.

I displayed an Art Deco/Moderne room and it also drew many favourable comments, but I also found that some people found the light temperature (colour) too cool. I had been trying for that effect, as fluorescent lights were very new in the 30's and would have been cutting edge fashion, but I found that most viewers prefer a warmer look. These photos show what the difference would sort of be like - I'm cheating and using photoshop for now. The top one is warmed up, the bottom one is as I displayed.

plugging in those new lights

2010-04-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I dislike the most are the unreliable, fragile, finicky plugs used with miniature lights. At shows they are a nightmare as one never knows if they are going to work and if by some chance they do work at first, will they keep on working (not bloody likely is the answer). The main problem is that they rely on mechanical contact - friction to hold the wires in place and feeble springs in the sockets to make contact with the pins, Today I started the process of replacing all the plugs, using electronic machined pins and sockets instead. The left photo show a cir-kits plug, a pin partially cleaned up and ready to use, a strip of pins, and a small socket. Once I cut a pin off the strip, I cut off the remaining plastic and solder in the lead. I then put a jacket of shrink tubing to cover the pin top and the joint
The leads are soldered into the plug pins, so they won't get shaken or pulled loose, nor will the contact be broken by oxides.
The other photos shows how compact the setup is and how many lights I can plug in securely in a very small space. For any techies out there, I'm driving LED lights, so the amperage is very small.

Another new LED light

2010-03-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm constantly finding new ways to combine LEDs with novel light forms. Knowing that the light source will never have to be accessed to change a bulb frees one up considerably in the design process

Using LEDs

2010-03-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

A number of people have asked me about using LEDs in my miniatures and rooms and wondered if I used Novalyte™ LEDs. I don't; I usually assemble my own using some VERY small components. The photos give some idea of their size: that's a regular toothpick and the ruler divisions are 1/16 inch.

Why work with the little LEDs - because I can't get the results I want from ready made products here are two examples

updating track light design

2010-03-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

I been working on a new design for my track lights and thing I have come up with an innovative way of attaching the heads to the "track" so I can hide the wires and still have tilt and swivel capabilities. I'm using LEDs for these and most other lights that I make. The example shown is 6 inches or 15 cm long.