Apr
09
I’m staging the scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream that I’m including in the pop-up book, because they will determine what actions I engineer for them. Here’s the first three:
Scene One
At Theseus’ court, Demetrius and Hermia quarrel.
Scene Two
The workmen prepare ‘Pyramus and Thysbe’.
Scene Three
Puck and the Fairies in the woods.
I’m using an old wing-and-drop set, and the accompanying text from the play will scroll at the bottom, as in the Punch And Judy Dictionary. I’ll devise some sort of ornate frame, although I’m running out of room. I can hardly wait to see what kind in action these puppets get up to.
Feb
20
1.Finished up a commission for a lady in Long Island: three large (3 1/4″) books to go into the workroom of a (very tall) wizard doll.
Wizard Books
2. Replied to a letter from a Bo Press collector. The most fun part of my job.
3. Got a bunch of orders out – it’s been a good month. This involves far more typing than I’m comfortable with, and I’ve sometimes missed s deadline because I couldn’t make myself do the paperwork.
4. End-of-Day Fun Time! I made some greeting cards for Bo Press in imitation of the Eirie cards I made with Prue.
Mine Are Smaller
. . .And There Are Only Twelve
But They're Really Cute
They have twelve different images from Bo Press books. And I made all the little envelopes! If you’d like a set, shoot me twenty bucks and they’re yours.
Nov
20
It’s getting to be that time of year. Ever since Bo Press started, I’ve made a little celebration book at the end of every year, with pictures and pages from all the books I’ve published, and later, I added pictures of the pocket globes and miniatures. I made one copy the first year, two the second, and so on. I have great fun with designing these books, because it gives me a fresh look at the year’s work and let’s me see how far I’ve come as a book artist. I try tricky bindings and include souvenirs, and generally have some fun. Here’s some from former years:
Third Year
Second Year
This year the most interesting skill I acquired was working with wood, so I’ve designed the binding with covers made of a stock of cherry wood I bought with the profits from the IGMA show. Hee’s the first one:
Fifth Year Book
Fifth Year Book
Each copy (five, of course) will have a different metal trim, taken from my stock of good pieces I was saving up for a special occasion. I haven’t decided whether or not to use a label.
The person who bought the very first End of Year Book has bought a copy every year since, so I’m declaring her emeritus and reserving a copy for her. The other four will go up for bid on eBay on December first. No reserve, so go pick up a bargain!
Oct
26
This Year's Crop
The best in pomegranates in years – very juicy, incredible sweet/sour balance and intense taste. I eat one every day.
Oct
16
I got a wonderful gift in the mail yesterday from Valerie’s nephew Cort, who is a watchmaker. A gigantic box of old watch parts!
Treasure
I was half way to sorting it all out when it occurred to me to take pictures. So far I have four piles: large semi-complete carcasses, large bones, gears, and tiny parts. The gears and tiny parts will go into tellurions and orreries, the large bones (I’m not sure what they are in actual watch part parlance, but they are semicircular and have all their moving parts removed) will wait for an inspiration, but the semi-complete carcasses will provide the most satisfying fun: taking them apart.
Semi-Complete
Small Parts
Small Antikythera Mechanism
I guess other geeky types had this experience as kids: taking apart an old clock or busted home appliance. My father, who was geek to the bone, understood this to be one of the major joys of kidhood, and all my life I saw taking things apart as an adventure more exciting than almost anything except a book. There was an exciting plot – opening the case, finding the hidden screws to get further into the mechanism, thwarted by the vital screws that wouldn’t undo, looking down into tantalizing but inaccessible depths that would reveal hidden wonders if only I could get at them. And finally, sitting back with all the parts undone, laid out in neat lines, seeing the whole and its parts as the same thing. The joy of Figuring Things Out.
Taking things apart is a wonderful introduction to the joy of craft. Carefully setting up a workspace, setting out the necessary tools, sorting parts in a structured and rational way: they’re all part of the ceremony of preparation that craft requires to focus the mind and imagination and enter the state of flow that craft and art require. To screen out the world and focus your attention on your hands and their manipulation of objects is a meditative exercise. Taking things apart and putting things together teach the wonder of a whole greater than the sum of its parts: the parts plus the assembly plus magic equals an alarm clock or a miniature book. The same deep joy and satisfaction is available to the apprentice as it is to the master. The equation works backwards and forwards.
Sep
30
1. Even after building and furnishing a dollhouse, I had no idea how really really small 1/12 scale is.
2. IGMA people are the best.
3. Miniature paintings that look like bad copies on a website look absolutely magical in person.
4. If you removed the miniature food and the miniature needlework, there would have been damn few of us left.
5. My homemade display furniture looked homemade.
6. I need lights.
7. I had lots of small sales and TWO BIG ONES! so I ended up in the black.
8. New Jersey’s humidity rivals Mississippi’s.
9. It’s really hard to sell my books unless I explain each one.
10. I get really homesick.
. . . . .more to come.
Sep
18
After Bo Press turned up on the literary website Mollosus and on the new, and very recommended, IGMA blog, I’ve had delightful emails from several people complimenting my work and looking forward to seeing me at the IGMA show. One of the best and most surprising things that happened to me when I started selling my miniature books on eBay five years ago was discovering how personal the transactions were. This seems to be a common experience among craftsmen who sell on the Internet. Getting a compliment at a craft show is good, but when a customer takes the trouble to compose and send an email it’s even better. Not many people have a job that gets them fan mail!
And in a few days I’ll be meeting some of the people who buy my work and talk about it. If their emails are any indication, they all know each other, so I’ll be part of a big community of people who understand and love miniatures as much as I do. There are lots of things I like about working by myself and following my own fancies in what I make, but sometimes I miss designing in collaboration. Several minds and imaginations focused on the same project multiply everyone’s energy, but the pace can be very tiring. I luxuriate in having the time to think about my miniatures and do things over if I think I should.
Meeting other miniature enthusiasts will inspire and motivate me in ways I can’t yet imagine. Five days to go!
Aug
20
It’s too hot here in Southern California to do any work, so I wandered around the Internet to see what other people were up to. I got to Letterology and spent the whole afternoon clicking on every one of their links. Here are the ones that have convinced me that I will never have another good idea in my entire life:
Musée Des Miniatures et Decors de Cinema
Alfabeto Pittorico
Sheaff : Ephemera.
A Noisy Alphabet
1785 Illustrated Journal
Embroidered Initials
Paper Imagineer
In The Library
Jun
25
I wound myself up. I was so excited about going to the IGMA show that I started stocking up on books right away: making as many copies as I thought I could sell, making lots of globes and orreries. . . .and it turned from craft into manufacturing.
There’s a certain kind of actor who loves rehearsal but is bored by performance. Building a character is creative, frustrating, revelatory, and satisfying, but performing it night after night exactly the same way becomes a slog. I feel the same way about what I make. There’s a reason all the globes and orreries I make are all different.
In a way I found about the IGMA show too soon. I had too much time to think about it – all the things that could go wrong, all the things about the trip that would be annoying, what if nobody bought anything? what if everybody bought everything the first day and I had nothing left for the rest of the weekend? how was I going to get all my stuff into my bags? what if I’d finally gotten too fat to fit in an airplane seat? I needed to take a deep breath.
So I’ve finally been able to let it go, and admit that the IGMA show stuff will take care of itself, and get started making new books! The next should be the marionette pop-up book. I abandoned the Orlando Furioso idea – have you ever read Orlando Furioso? It’s the longest poem ever written (perhaps a slight exaggeration ( but not by much!)). I thought I’d skim it, get about ten or twelve good action scenes, and split, but no. So I’ve lowered my sights, and I’m doing Punch and Judy instead. I’ve also got a book on the periodic table in the works – if I can think of some way to make a pop-up periodic table, I’ll do it. No more serious books till winter!
"That's the way to do it!"
May
17
. . .and a new shape!
A Stand Globe
A Stand Globe
A Stand Globe
. . .and a pretty one covered with feather paper:
Feather Globe
The Hinges
The Front and The Top
The Globe
The Hidden Peacock Feather
(Did you know that peacock feathers are supposed to be very bad luck on stage? But only the eyes. I remember carefully masking and spraying the eyes of a vase full of peacock feathers for ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ in college.)
As for the stand globe, I know it doesn’t make any sense. I mean, what is it? A dollhouse miniature? You’d have a hard time spinning the globe with that glass case around it. An objet de virtu? A decorative tchotchke? I like the way it looks, and I know if I saw it in a shop I would have to have it, which is all I ask from anything I make. “If nothing else, be interesting.”
