Après une longue absence / After a long break

Un déménagement de plus, je suis maintenant en Provence.
Mes maisons et mes miniatures sont arrivées saines et sauves après avoir traversé la Manche.
Pour le moment je me suis contentée de dégager l'extérieur des maisons, elles n'ont pas encore trouvé leur place définitive...et mon atelier n'est pas encore terminé ! On se contente donc de travailler sur de petites pièces pour le moment.
Ce long break m'a quand même permis de terminer des meubles commencés depuis longtemps lors de stages à Londres avec Geoff Wonnacott et  Ann High.

One more moving, I'm in Provence now.
My dollhouses and my miniatures arrived safe and sound after a journey through the English channel. For now only the outside of the houses is cleared. They have not yet found their place... and my workshop is not yet complete!  I work only on small pieces at the moment.
This long break still allowed me to complete furniture started long ago during workshops in London with Geoff Wonnacott and Ann High.

Un cabinet d'angle, de style Chippendale.

Je suis assez contente des croisillons sur la porte vitrée. Le plus difficile a été d'adapter les charnières et ce n'est pas encore au point.  En plus je viens de remarquer que j'ai oublié la serrure. Je vais devoir entreprendre des recherches poussées pour retrouver cette énorme plaque de serrure.

Chippendale Corner Cabinet

I'm quite happy with the beading on the glass door. The most difficult part was to adjust the hinges and it is still far from perfect. I just noticed that I forgot the key plate. I'll have to undertake extensive research to find this huge piece.

Une boite à couteaux de style George III.

C'était un premier essai, la marqueterie centrale n'est pas d'une grande précision.

 George III walnut knife box.

It was a first attempt, the marquetry on the top is not really accurate.

Un coffre élisabéthain aux dragons sculptés

J'ai adoré faire le travail de sculpture. Là encore ce n'est pas parfait mais nous avons appris différentes techniques à travers le dessin des dragons.

Il faut que je lui donne une teinture plus foncée pour être plus crédible.

Elizabethan Dragon Chest

 I loved doing the carving. Here again it is not perfect but we have learned various techniques through the design of the dragons.

 It needs a darker dye to give it more credence.

Woodworking workshops at KDF

The Kensington Dollhouse Festival is now over. I took workshops with Geoff Wonnacott with the intention to improve my skills in woodworking. I'd like to be able to make some furniture for my Art Nouveau dollhouse. As it would take more than three days to learn all those techniques, I'm still a long way from the goal...but I keep training ! The knife box and the Chippendale corner cabinet are far from finished but I will fix the problems soon. I think that my inlay is not clean enough, on the box, and I have hinging problems on the cabinet.

But, these are little trifles, as, on the bright side, I have met a lot of very nice ladies during this time. Yes, mostly ladies, with the exception of Geoff.

I've bought a new chair by Kim Selwood, a model from Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, going back to 1883. But I didn't like the leather and I replaced it with a William Morris design - a kit I bought from Nicola Mascall.

For now, I have made some improvement in the Cabinet of Curiosities and they will be the last before September. Once again we are moving - from London to another borough of London - and the house will be packed soon.