(Deborah Lee)

A Spooky Asylum in Miniature
by Pam North
The first miniature Deborah Lee remembers purchasing was a brass wine goblet set that was advertised in the back of a magazine. Although she kept it, she really didn’t get into miniatures until the mid-1990s when she moved to New Orleans, where she became involved in the local NAME club and attended a few miniature shows. She began working on a Scottish castle, which at that time was being built into a custom cabinet. When she left New Orleans and moved the cabinet, the castle didn’t survive, so she packed away what she could salvage. Over the next many years she moved quite often, until finally, when she semi-retired 5 years ago in Hawaii, she was able to resurrect her hobby. She revived her Scottish castle project, albeit in a different form than previously.
 
Deborah’s career has been as a pediatric neurologist, who after practicing for 11 years, began working in the pharmaceutical industry with the goal of developing more drugs for children with neurological diseases. When she semi-retired, she started a company that continues to consult for the pharmaceutical industry on clinical trials and drug development.

Miniatures simply delight her. “ I can create to my heart’s content, and don’t have to worry about overflowing our small condo” she explained. “I have been so happy to be able to return to this wonderful hobby after almost 30 years, and see all the new artisans embracing the field today.” 

A recent piece of hers is very unusual, as it was inspired by the Danvers State Hospital (also known as the Insane or Lunatic Asylum) in Danvers, Massachusetts . Opened in 1878, it went through a gradual closure process from the 1980s to 1992. It was the location for the 1958 film Home Before Dark, and the 2001 movie Session 9. Deborah’s piece is a combination of ideas from both the actual hospital and the movies, and is in 1:12 scale.

Deborah’s sister, Nancy, had been the caretaker for their father until his death, and Deborah wanted to do something special for her. When Nancy also retired in Hawaii, Deborah made the piece as a housewarming present. “She always has loved visiting haunted asylums, but the Danvers hospital was torn down before she could get there,” Deborah said. “I decided she should visit it in miniature.”

Deborah had no formal training in the miniature field, describing herself as a “wing-it type” of person. “I consider myself more of a collector than a maker,” she explained. “I did do the internal structure (wall, flooring etc.), and when I couldn’t find a miniature working flashlight, I made that myself, but most of the pieces are other people’s work. The room box wouldn’t have been nearly as striking without the items from those multiple talented artisans. The asylum furniture (bed, tub, lightbox, table, morphine kit on a tray) were initially created by T. Dudley and K. Coursien, and I had fun aging them. The McDonald's feast was a custom order by HoneyBee Curiosity. The KFC food by MINIMANIA was purchased through the Kensington Dollshouse Festival Showcase. I even added some collector pieces: the enamel bowl on the dresser from Ligia Durstenfeld; the sleeping schnauzer by Karl Blindheim; and the 3-piece brush/comb/mirror set by Peter Acquisto. The dresser drawers contain a snake and a sleeping mother rat with babies along with moldy clothes. While I like to make some things, I am delighted to support the incredibly talented miniature artists. There are far too many for me to mention all of them, but I am thankful to all of those who contributed to this piece, and I am proud to support them in my small way.”

Deborah bought the room box from Miniatures.com. She used pre-made wood flooring, and to peel the paint on the walls, she used a rubber cement technique which she had read about in a dollhouse magazine article. The ceiling tiles were made from cardboard she painted with layers of stucco paint, then cut into tiles. For behind the windows, she painted parafilm with multiple layers of concentrated watercolors (Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors) which have a tendency to bubble. She glued the parafilm onto the window, then put lights behind to look like twinkling stars. She also dribbled Realistic WaterTM on the panes to make it look like it’s raining. “I had a figure for another project that had bare feet, so I used that and the water to make ghostly footprints,” she added. “The nice thing about doing an old ruin is that it’s a lot easier to incorporate things that didn’t quite turn out as planned. I am not a perfectionist and have ADD, so once the piece is even close to what I want, I move on. I admire those artists who will work for hours perfecting their work; I just don’t have that kind of patience, which is why I buy things from them if I can. I am happy with how this turned out. I watched the movies using Danvers Hospital as a backdrop, and also found a historical website, and a few books where I could get ideas. I modified some things that I couldn’t figure out how to make work in the room box. I also knew I wanted to use all battery lighting, as I didn’t want to restrict where my sister could put the piece, and with batteries there was no need to for a nearby electrical outlet. My favorite part of it is the replica of my sister! It was made by Lilli Bass of LillieLittles, who reproduced everything perfectly, including the little otter purse my sister has.” Essential in the creation of the Danvers Hospital piece was making everything work together, a talent Deborah has.

Deborah’s workplace is a multi-purpose room in her condo that overlooks the ocean. “It converts from my office to a craft room to a place to sleep at night when my husband snores. I have one desk that during the day acts as my office desk; then at night, when I have put the computers away, it’s a great worktable.” She swears by her Dremel tool and razor blades in working in miniature.

She currently is working on her medieval castle, composed of nine room boxes, and based on Threave, a 14th century Scottish border castle. “I have completed the dungeon and the kitchen (two room boxes each), and am working diligently on the great halls. I’m grateful just being able to see the detail at my age!”

Contact information:
Name: Deborah Lee
Email: leezwiz@yahoo.com
Phone: 610-329-9457
Address: 1717 Ala Wai BLVD #1606 - Honolulu, HI 96815

Credit for the photos: Kevin Littrell at Koasis.