(Mary Ciccolella - Parisian Cafe)

A Touch of Paris

by Pam North

New Jersey housewife and miniaturist, Mary Ciccolella, makes 1:12 inch scale rooms, and “all kinds of other stuff in that scale, whatever tickles my fancy,” Mary added. An art major in college, she has no specific training in the miniature field. Her interest in miniatures simply began about 35 years ago, with some buying/collecting, then became even more serious about 15 years ago.
The name of her highlighted piece is Parisian Cafe. and Mary explained its origin. “The Parisian Cafe was started in the Big Apple NAME club, whose members finished the scene with their own ideas and materials. I decided to finish the outside like the exterior of a building with stucco and quoins, putting curbing along all the outside bottom edges, making it look like a street, all made from scratch. The Parisian Cafe is a wooden cigar box, with foam core and wall paper. The floor/ground is a piece of wall paper that looks like pebbles. The outside of the Parisian Cafe was finished to look old and French. I used sand and paint to create a different texture; sometimes I use spackle. The edges of quoins on the corners were cut-up cereal boxes. I tinted it with staining/aging gel so it would look vintage and weathered. The cart is a NAME kit. I made the bread, rolls, baskets, towel. The calla lilies were a kit from Arlene Finkelstein. The small dessert tray also was made from a kit by Caroline Riccio, and I made the sweets for that, too. The bike holding the flowers is a plastic one, purchased and painted, and holds two large baskets I made and decorated with florals. The trees in pots were purchased, but I made the pots out of blue water bottle caps. The tables and chairs were purchased, but I painted them to look more like the table and chairs in the wallpaper. I placed LEDs in some of the windows and the street lamp. Instead of purchasing a street lamp, I built one from tubing, jewelry findings, beads, and paper. The clear ‘glass’ is really a pull from an old venetian blind. I made the lamp very tall, like the proportions of a real street lamp, but it was too tall, so I ripped it apart to shorten it. I made a great deal myself, and purchased other items. The tall flower holder with the lavender, by the cart, was a gift from Lenore Johnson. Other artists’  work included in this piece is the cut-out layers technique by Ginger Landon Seigel for the Parisian Cafe. My favorite part is the dimensional quality. The paper is a little bit smaller than 1:24 inch, and the furniture is 1:24 inch. By placing them together, it added depth, making the eye perceive that it’s farther away than it really is. The most fun was with the outside of the box, making it look like an exterior building. There was a small square hole at the top where the box came together, so I created a vent with a piece of straw and paper, painted it gray and stuck it in there.”
“I hated the Parisian Cafe when I started it. It is 1:24 inch scale, and I usually work in 1:12 inch scale. It is paramount that where scale is concerned, everything is the correct size. I want my projects to look real. I didn’t feel I had the eye for that scale, and I wasn’t going to finish it, but I forced myself to complete it, and I’m very glad I did. Once I got into the project, it evolved beautifully, and I’m thrilled with the result. I will never give up on a piece. I may put it aside, and possibly rethink it altogether. When something isn’t working out, one knows instinctively that to go forward is a waste of time. Part of the joy is the challenge and accomplishment, and, of course, the result!”
Selling the piece still is in question, so she is considering displaying it instead if she finds a good venue for it. She is downsizing her home, so will need to part with some of her things. “I would have to think about selling the Parisian Cafe. I get pretty emotionally attached, and don’t always know how to be objective about pricing.”
Striking a balance between home life and miniature life always is tricky. “Somehow life always gets in the way. Our real life has priority, except I want to spend more time on miniatures. Unfortunately, I also must sleep! ” Inspiration for Mary is “anywhere - I just let something catch my eye and let it incubate.”
She has a workplace, in the basement, by the furnace, where she can leave things out of sight to dry. “There are periods of mess, followed by periods of clean, as I complete my commitment to finishing projects. The floor is concrete, so I can find things that I may drop. I have lots of tools and a huge stash of objects.” Of her tools, she cites her X-acto knife as the most valuable. “It cuts, scraps, pokes, etc.” She said her biggest difficulty involved with working in miniatures is “having to stop working on them.”
As for what’s next for her, she looks forward to selling more of her work. “I love it when others like the objects I make. I also would like to try things I haven’t done before. It’s a big world with lots of ideas. Now I’m working on a scratch-build of a Paris dollhouse, based on a design by Christine Lea Fresoni. The dollhouse is coming along slowly, as the book was in French! Miniatures satisfy my artistic inclinations, and I love making items out of throw-away things. I have my husband fully trained. He lets me see everything before he throws it out or recycles it. Some of my best work!”

Contact information:
Name: Mary Ciccolella
Email: maryanncic@aol.com
Phone: (908) 458-7656
Address: 1010 Johnston Drive, Watchung, New Jersey 07069 
Website: photos on flickr.com
Business name: dont make a scene (misspelled on purpose)