Friday, April 25, 2008

My Recipe Challenge Selections

I have placed some new items on eBay that I made to look as real as possible and I wanted to share them with you.

I spent a load of time making these to match some recipe cards from Martha Stewart Living and to try and replicate her real life dishes as much as possible. They took several days for each one to be complete but I am very happy and proud of the results. I hate to be self-promoting but that's the way it goes sometimes! I hope you enjoy looking!











The link to find these on eBay is here:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnorthernminiaturesbyamanda

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Crime in a nutshell





Camille Minichino (aka Margaret Grace) here. I'm thrilled to be part of this wonderful blog. Because I'm so insecure about my own abilities (especially after seeing the amazing Pavrati!), I decided to start with a pioneer miniaturist, Frances Glessner Lee (1878–1962). Lee was a society matron and International Harvester heiress whose life was dedicated to miniatures and forensics.
This little info-blog is for those who may not have heard of Lee's amazing dioramas, compiled in "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death." Lee meticulously crafted miniature scenes in the normal dollhouse scale of 1 inch = 1 foot to teach law enforcement students the intricacies of investigating a crime scene.
The dioramas have extraordinary detail and verisimilitude. The windows open and close and the pencils write; tiny clothespins, whittled by Lee hold stockings that she knitted using straight pins. The kitchen crime scene shown contains half-peeled potatoes in the sink.
Lee endowed a Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard, and eventually gave seminars to homicide detectives. As far as I can tell from the sources, it was she who came up with the idea of "circling" a crime scene in a methodical pattern to obtain the best vision of what the evidence revealed.
For a look at more of her macabre scenes: http://www.bellwethergallery.com/artistsindex_01.cfm?fid=28
Long before CSI, Lee was a tireless advocate of forensics science and dedicated miniaturist.
No wonder I wish I could have lunch with her.

My Parvati

For a long time now, I have been looking at the film-still from Devdas and dying to create a doll inspired by Parvati played by the beautiful Aishwarya Rai.

Parvati is dressed in a classic Bengali style: a peacock-blue sari embellished in jewel tones. Her hands and feet are painted in alta, a very traditional adornment used by the women of Bengal. Her ornaments include necklaces, bangles, earrings, anklets, ring and tiara.


To read the story of Devdas, visit:
http://devdas.indiatimes.com/story.htm

Monday, April 14, 2008

Whose Art is It Anyway? You Can Lose Your Rights to Your Own Art!!!

Through some friendly sources I have just been turned on to a story that is certainly worth the lengthy read. Mind Your Business: You Will Lose All The Rights to Your Own Art, certainly caught my attention. As an Artist how could it have not?!!!

I worry about what I put out there knowing it can and or will eventually be taken. Having been a victim its sad to know that with all the art out there a large portion of it if only self proclaimed to be copyright and yet it has not been legally registered as such is not and will not be a legal infringement if used in any way by another then the creator with or without permission.

Not sure if this is true or legal. Imagine of all the artists in the USA and all the art, the copyright office would have to be bigger than the IRS to keep track of it all. Why is it also that on the internet there are sites claiming that with the addition of just 1 of their banners on your site they are registering all content on your site and that you post to your site?

Its a few pages long, but the guy took the time to write it, I agree it is really worth the time it will take to read it. Animation World Magazine

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Judy's Dollhouse: Photos by Allison V. Smith

Found these unbelievable photos on Flickr and instantly fell in love! These were taken by photographer Allison V. Smith.

You can view more works by Allison V. Smith at http://allisonvsmith.com
or visit her Flickr profile: http://www.flickr.com/people/allisonvsmith

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Antiques Shop & Patisserie - ca. 1950's

These magnificent miniatures sold on eBay last week. They are estimated to be from the 1950's - 60's period. The Antiques Shop went to the highest bidder for $850, and the Patisserie for $425.