Driftwood Shell Shop
This is the result of the first workshop I did at the Cape Town Miniaturia Guild, right after joining in 2001. We built the basic shell of the structure, after which decoration of the shopfront was left to our imaginations. I decided to make a shell shop, as I had lots of lovely, tiny shells that I have collected along the South African beaches. Some of my mini friends, in true miniaturist fashion, also sent me bits and pieces to add to the scene.
The display window. I have used handmade paper for the background. When I saw it I knew that it would be perfect for this scene. It has a rough texture with little bits of plant material that resembles sea weed. I also draped some hair nets in the background. The tiny framed sand dollar on the second shelf comes from California; all the other shells are from the South African beaches. I made a few framed shell pictures, a shadow box (ex cutlery tray) with an assortment of shells, and a tiny bird in a pond, on the bottom shelf. I made the shelves from rough strips of wood, distressed with diluted paint and burnt with a candle flame. I then drilled holes into the shelves, inserted some pieces of string (treated with "Stiffy"), and hung the shelves from the ceiling. The mobile in the left hand corner was made with broken shells and sewing thread, hung from a paper clip that was glued to the ceiling.
The left side of the display area. The gnome holding a starfish was a lucky find! I was looking for something to add some height to that corner, and he fitted right in. The starfish above his head was framed inside a white button, on a thin cork background.
The rock pool. I made the beach scene in the display window on a base of paper mache, sealed with a few layers of varnish. Before adding the paper mache, I cut a hole into the base of the display area, and inserted a shallow plastic container into the hole. The whole base as well as the plastic container were covered with the paper pulp, and varnished to make it water proof. I then painted some diluted tacky glue onto the base, and covered it with white sand. I left it for a few hours, shook off the surplus sand, and then sprayed it with matt artist's fixative to make the sand behave. I then poured the resin into the pool, adding a few tiny shells, some greenery for sea weed, and a metal crab to the scene. The crab was sent by Micki, all the way from Scotland. The framed fish "trophies" on the wall, came from a fridge magnet.
The "driftwood" comes from the local vineyards. The pewter frame contains a selection of shells on a cork background.
The shop sign. It was made from pieces of scrap wood and some leftover chains from mini light fittings.