36 Hour Classes
INSTRUCTOR: Noel & Pat Thomas, Fellows
COURSE: Exterior Structure and Streetscape
PROJECT: La Fenêtre: A Window on Montmartre (A Small French Shop)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This project was designed after a handful of tiny structures the instructors found dotting the streets of Paris—quirkily-angled relics of another time, squeezed-in between taller, more modern buildings. It depicts a somewhat neglected cityscape, containing a shop with a single room, narrow door and display window, with a small room above, for, perhaps, the owner of the shop, or the one-time home of a struggling artist.
As always, the instructors aim to create the illusion of reality of an aged structure, at home in its surroundings. Students will start with a wooden shell, to which they will apply finishing materials, including plastering, stripwood, and copper and tarpaper roofing. Classwork includes carving paving stones, finishing the door and windows, along with applications of various aging techniques, including watercolors, latex and acrylic paints, Bug Juice, moss, and dirt.
This is an exterior only class. The prototype will have the sign, Fermé (which means Closed) hanging in the door, so the interior will not be finished, except for the display window. Students may decide to finish the interior on their own, at home, or simply make a removable box in order to change window displays. The window will be large enough for only a few items, as a way to highlight some of your favorite miniatures.
We’ll have fun with this, but, as usual, the class will be labor-intensive, requiring lots of energy, manual strength, and flexibility.
TIME:
36 hours. While completion is unlikely, students will go home with all the techniques and materials to finish on their own.
POWER TOOLS:
none
SKILL LEVEL:
All levels. More advanced students are likely to master the methods faster, but beginners shouldn’t find them too difficult.
MATERIALS FEE:
$400