More eye candy from Montreal!

Sorry - I missed a day. I really thought I had posted this yesterday. Man - I am getting so old!!!! Well, in all honesty, I was this forgetful even in my 20s but now I get to blame it on age. *smile*

Carrying on from where I left off - two days ago - here are some more inspirational projects from the Montreal club exhibit:

Michele Castonguay is a familiar name for those of us attending the Montreal Show over the last few years. Both entries this year were in 1:48 scale - an amazing feat to consider for those of us even a little frightened to try 1:24!

First we have a unique piece, depicting an attic only of a very large, historical building. Michele has captured considerable detail in such small rooms.

The second 1:48 display is actually a whole street scene, I love it! It's very European looking - and remember - it's 1:48 - tiny!

From Shirley McBain we have a nice sunny spot to curl up in....

... a couple in their comfortable sitting room who have either just returned from a trip - or just heading out on one, based on the luggage arranged in the corner...

... and Santa taking a brief rest before heading off on his next delivery.

Pierre Marinier built a beautiful gazebo then placed it a a park-like setting to show it off to best advantage:

Caroline de Repentigny and Fernand Rondeau treated us to a remarkable, large, light-filled artist studio. The treatment of the canvas blinds hovering below the massive skylights was, I thought, truly unique.

Inside, large murals are arranged for viewing...

... while the talented artist lounges on the sofa, awaiting the public's admiration of his talent!

On keeping with that theme their second entry, "Charlie's Art" is a beautiful stucco building that provides space for several talented people to pursue their artistic passions at the same time:

This room box by Kate Heenan looks like such a wonderful place to curl up with a good book, or to visit the rooftop for a wee bit of fresh air.

And another of Kate's comfortable. cozy rooms, this one built into a set of actual books:

if all of this horrible winter we've had has you dreaming of a sunny retreat, then you'll appreciate this lovely summer house by June Barry. I can almost smell the summer flowers in bloom.

Now - I apologize if I make an error in attributing the following lovely little vignette. I believe it is one of June Barry's, however it may be Vanessa's Barklay's work. My apologies Vanessa if it is yours and not June's. Either way, if it a great little scene in a simple but effective container.

Now - these next pieces, are by a pair of sisters, Jade Barklay's Christmas box in front and Vanessa Barklay's comfy modern corner behind. These prove that miniature projects do not have to take up a large footprint to still be fun to make and lovely to look at.

This calm modern scene is also the work of Vanessa Barklay.

And from Jade Barklay ... we have a couple of examples of how to really pack in all the little details that bring a scene to life. My original pictures were difficult to see the detail because of the glare from the lights bouncing off the plexiglas boxes but Jade was kind enough to follow up and provide me pictures without the covering. Thank you so much, Jade!

In my original post, I incorrectly credited this wonderful artist's studio to June Barry. It is actually another detailed piece from Jade Barklay. I'm so happy to be able to make the corrections. Thank you, Jade for sending pictures with the cover off. They are so much clearer. All the better to see the incredible work put into this piece.

Erica Lapiste shows her versatility by going from a very modern 1:48 scale home...

,,, to a pleasant light-filled conservatory...

... to a truly lush, rain-forest-looking vignette in a beautiful lantern. Don't you love the depth perception she achieves with the photo at the back of the lantern?

Lise Ashby carried out the summer house/gazebo theme by including 3 different sizes of hand built gazebos in her display piece.

The final displays for tonight were produced by Yvette Reid. Two gentlemen face off over a game of checkers while a little girl and her dad look on before heading out for a skate.

Another little girl oohs and ahhs over the toys in this little shop.

And, at the end of the day, an attentive father keeps a lookout from this lovely porch, waiting for his family to come around the corner (that's my story and I'm sticking to it, for now).

So folks, this brings us to the end of today's post. Tomorrow, we will finish up with the last three artisans from the Montreal miniatures display, before introducing what I hope to be a quick little project to carry me through the next week or two. Now I'm going to go watch the hockey game. Go Leafs go!!!! TTFN!!! - Marilyn

Montreal eye candy - Day two of the MEM show & sale

Yesterday I highlighted a new exhibitor at the Montreal Show: Shelley Acker of Freedom Miniatures located in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Louise and I had spent all day Saturday in the sales room, only taking a break to rest our feet, grab a bite of lunch, and check on how much money we had left (not much!).

Sunday morning we had a little bit of a lie-in before heading to the display room for our annual fix of inspirational miniatures. We've come to recognize many of the names of MEM members and sometimes we can even recognize the style of the project before we read the name. I must admit, I am always surprised by the number of different projects that get displayed every year. I work so slowly on my minis, it amazes me how these members consistently come up with new projects each year.

I am going to apologize in advance for missing some of the wonderful projects on display. Some of my pictures came out so blurry they just would not do justice to the hard work evident in the finished project. Hopefully I will get better pictures next year and be able to include everybody.

Also - this posting, and the two next days as well, will be quite long as each will contain about 40 pictures. There were just so many great and inspirational displays, I wanted to share as many as possible with you. I hope you are patient and don't mind the length of these posts. Don't forget - you can click on the pictures to get a larger view.

First, let's start with a display put together by all the club members. It's market day! We'll visit the many market stalls, starting on the left and working our way around:

I'm not sure what happened here - was a lady customer run down by a cart, did she faint, or is she just taking a rest by having a lay-down on the nice green lawn? *smile*

What a wonderful variety of goods for sale in these market stalls! It's a busy day with lots of customers and a wide age range. Something for everyone, including a place to sit and a canteen to grab a bite when they get hungry.

Good food, good friends and lots of interesting things to explore. How much more fun can you have?

Even the local police has stopped in for a look. I think he's trying to find the doughnut stall. *smile*

Now we move on to the individual exhibits, starting with MEM member Joanne Daigneault. Joanne's display is a good illustration of how much fun it can be to use simple containers to make statement pieces. Small room boxes can be used very effectively.

Joanne also included a few little vignettes created inside ordinary gift bags you can purchase anywhere. I won't make any comment on her choice of hockey team - after all, she does live in Montreal, so I guess I have to give her a pass on that one!

Next, we have MEM member Florence Dafter, who shares simple ideas that can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make them. The first picture with the Mattel toys brings back memories of when my own daughter was a child and had a whole set of these toys as well as the little (no pun intended) dollhouse that went with them.

Cathy Colligan is another familiar name to those who have followed any of my previous years' postings of the Montreal Show. The first picture is of very poor quality but I wanted to show it anyway because of the concept of building a vignette around a simple element. Although difficult to see, at the back of this box is what appears to be the rear view of a gypsy caravan. In the area around the wagon we see a spirited young gypsy girl dancing to the lively tunes being played by a young man lounging to the side. Just a few simple elements that combine to tell a whole story.

Cathy's 2nd piece is a 1:24 scale 1950s diner, including two wonderful vintage cars to help set the mood.

Jean Thornton also has an example of a different scale. Her 1:48 scale pub, The Twisted Sister, is incredibly detailed though very tiny. Unfortunately, I had taken an overhead picture through the transparent roof but the glare from the lights did not allow anything to be seen properly.

Jean's Southwest room box has so many beautiful details that I am paying close attention to since I have a Southwest project in the pipeline as well. I don't know who the artisan was who made the beautiful Golden Retriever but it is really gorgeous as well.

Patricia A. Nahorniak is another familiar name as a long-time member of the Miniature Enthusiasts of Montreal (MEM). I love how so many of this year's examples are small projects that can be completed in much less time and take up so much less room than a full dollhouse project.

I love that this one also has a little room box in the room itself. Now if there was an even tinier room box inside that one, and one inside that one......

Angela Neudorf displayed a table that is definitely worthy of a Thanksgiving celebration. Also, her tiny gingerbread houses and her Christmas room built into a lantern bring a smile to my face as I am such a Christmas person!

I adored Angela's artist loft. I thought the use of two different levels, one area for the painting function itself, the other for a lounging area, was really effective at making the space look much larger and more spacious than it was.

Her 1:12 scale coffee shop with living space above makes me want to curl right up inside. Beautiful. I love the large tree in the yard and took a close-up because the actual greenery is the same as some that I have in my "stash". I wanted to check out how she built the trunk and branches of the tree itself. So well done.

Eleanor Dutton brought us three small displays, again proving that you don't need to go big to enjoy this hobby of ours, nor do you need to have a large amount of display space. Even the smallest of boxes can tell a big story.

Mom's Living Room is a room box from the 1980s, built by Carmen Paterson of the Miniature Enthusiasts of Toronto. It features a working television that plays MP4 files. How cool is that?

Inge Cossette brings us a very elegant room box that features a young Royal couple getting ready for what appears to be a very formal event.

Our final photos for today feature Pat Geary's room boxes which show how building small room boxes can allow you to display vintage manufactured furniture or specialty collections to their best advantage.

I hope you have enjoyed this walk through the display room of the Montreal Miniature show.

Prepare yourself for two more days just like this one. Yep, two more days of displays. Is it any wonder I came home with so much inspiration floating around in this wee brain of mine!?! Until tomorrow - TTFN!! - Marilyn