No Body’s Home (Ceramics II - Spring 2023)

No Body’s Home

Ceramics, Yarn, Foam Board, Wall Mounting Stickers

Disassembly

Stick Friend!

Enthralled by the intricacy of spaces and how they reflect us as individuals, I was inspired to create No Body’s Home.  All decisions made, ranging from large pieces of furniture to more subdued wall color of the rooms, suggest a mood and personality that transforms the simple space into a home.  Having moved so many times, I am no stranger to arriving in a foreign place and set with the task of transforming it into my own.

 I carefully considered an entire lifetime’s worth of decisions to create a space that looked lived in, ensuring to pay attention to every minute detail to make it seem real.  My goal was to mimic non-ceramic mediums with ceramics, like wood, paint, and brick.  I had an idea in mind when I made the house of who would live in the space, tailoring everything I made to fit a certain persona.  My intention was to leave visual clues for the viewer to formulate their own vision of an inhabitant..

Future Me Thoughts (Fall 2024)

The challenge of making a dollhouse entirely out of ceramics was so appealing to me, however I definitely learned that it was a one time thing.  As much as I loved carving each tiny piece, I learned that objects that majorly consist of straight lines should be made from already straight materials.  My perfectionism was NOT happy with how much sanding and shaving had to be done to achieve these results.  But fortunately for me, being a multi media artist, I have the option of using other materials to meet my needs in the future.  Besides that, the final result has its quirks but that’s what makes it so special.  It’s always important to me to try and learn from every project, especially what not to do!

One of my proudest accomplishments from this project was finishing a dollhouse within such a short time, a feat I’ve never done successfully.  Even going over into the summer made for a relatively short turnaround of six months worth of on and off work.  Overall, I wouldn’t do it again, but I’m glad I did! 

WIP PHOTOS

It was important to me to include all the details of a regular house, including baseboards, window/door frame trims, and all the crucial accessories for each room to be considered “that room.”  For example, the living room had to include a couch, chair, coffee table, and side table in order to be a living room.

I sketched onto the walls to get an idea for windows and door heights based on how small the furniture could get.  I wanted to go small so the house wouldn't be huge, but not so small it was difficult to work on.  The first room definitely had the most measurements to ensure success in the rest of the structure.

Better showcasing the furniture, there was a lot of dry times and waiting to get the careful carving of the tiny shapes.

A closer look at the baseboard and window trims.  So.. much.. sanding...

As I began work on the kitchen I realized the sink height and by extension the window height were tricky, so I created a stick to mimic the general height of the individual who might live here. This allowed me to make sure everything was reachable and at a comfy visual distance.  Stick Friend became the unofficial residence of this house!

I failed to account for shrinkage when working on the kitchen, so it was visibly shorter than the living room.  I fixed this later by moving to backwards to line up the floor and just have a slightly receded front wall.

Flashforward to upstairs!  The only issue with these two rooms was getting the two inner walls to line up, I did a lazy job measuring the first time so they were very warped.  Wanted a fireplace somewhere in the house, decided on the bedroom!

The stairs were quite an involved process, as I had to have the wrap around to reach the second floor. A HUGE pet peeve of mine as a kid was dollhouses that don’t have realistic ways of getting to the next floor (looking at you, stair-less Barbie dream houses. How is she gonna get upstairs with no stairs???), so I had to ensure mine was built to code. However, I made this harder by misplacing the two doors to be on the same side, meaning a wrap around staircase was the only solution. It was a challenge but it ended up working out fine with some careful planning.  

Staircase added to the side of the building.

Lots of sketching required for the accompanying staircase room as well. Had to make sure the window placement was correct! 

I wanted a removable roof for easy installation, and decided on a classic shingles roof.  I made sure there was lots of overhang to account for any unevenness. 

Few extra accessories with the base of the house finished, starting with the bookshelves for the office. I made the outside shelves separate from the back to try and make things as straight as possible… mild success. 

Assortment of various furniture pieces at different stages of firing.

Interior of house empty

Interior furnished!  You may notice some supports between the first and second floor… I thought they would be fine just sitting on top but as I mentioned all my straight lines were “quirky.”  In this instance I used some rulers to try and add support, later replacing them with board cut to size. 

Since I had some extra time, I wanted to complete the nautical location I imagined for the house, so I added a small boat to accompany it!  Modeled so beautifully by stick friend, the measuring stick from earlier that I decided to add a face to and keep <3

Can’t have a boat without a dock!

Time for glazing!  Gathered my favorite glazes in a color palette that matched the vibe and went for it!

   

I tried several different color combinations for the exterior, but was satisfied with any of them.  I wanted a "Cape Cod" look, like a house on the coast of Maine.  I liked my interior color palette, but the exterior needed more thinking.

On my phone I had an idea and drew it out, I knew it would take time but a brick house... it would be too good to pass up!

Looks strange before the firing…

I had just a small handful for accessories I wanted to include to make the house a home, including a globe, furnace/oven, record player, and some flower beds. Stick friend deserves some nicer things in life ;)

The perfect coffin!?

First round of glazing done!  Did some test pieces for the wallpapers and brick exterior as well. 

Everything on the shelves, waiting (featuring David as well!)

Finished boat!  It lacks any functioning parts like engines, steering wheels, and masts, but it looks good so who cares!

Everything glazed!

Everything stilted!!

Small jump, next was everything getting packed up. Although the ceramic part was finished, the additional components and details were yet to come…

First off these darn empty bookshelves!  I thought I’d make solid cardboard inserts and paint them to look like individual books, but I did not care for how that looked at all. Too fake. 

Instead I made individual books and glued them together to fit the shelves. While doing so I made some loose ones to scatter around the room (to be more realistic, cause who puts things away immediately right?)

What's a bed without a spread?  Using what I believe is bandage gauze from my scrap pile, which had the perfect looseness to lay over itself without assistance (miniatures are hard to have convincing weight), I made a blanket.  The mattress is fabric over some cardboard and the pillow was handsewn.

Comfy!

Now the big one!  I felt the house needed somewhere to exist, so using leftover insulation foam board I constructed the starts of an island.  Since it was four pieces skewered together with a heaping helping of glue, I added cardboard on the top and bottom to give it more support.  I let the leftovers form it's shape, using the natural squiggles to my advantage.

I layered more cardboard on top to add some incline to the land, make it more cliff-y.

I then covered the foam in drywall compound, sticking in some "rocks" (chunks of scrap foam) for texture.  I also used chipboard to make stepping stones down to the dock.

Base coat.  I had lots of red and green paint and to my delight the two layered make a fantastic brown!

Armed Stick Friend (measuring a toothpick out for the broom)

I made the grass out of singled out bunches of a variety of embroidery thread.  I attached them by pushing them in with a needle (as the cardboard and foam is still quite soft)

I tried to decide what else to add, like thicker grass patches or snow/slush clusters.  However I decided that I just liked the embroidery thread bunches so I just made more of them and left the brown yellow base to look like early spring.