(Eva Perendreu - Cocktail Beach Bar) 

A Perfect Day at the Beach 
by Pam North 

Room boxes and thematic scenes are a passion for Eva Perendreu, an avid miniaturist (and career biologist) in Barcelona, Spain. She loves working with fantasy and nautical themes, and her creativity seems to have no limits; she enjoys the fact that she can reproduce in miniature almost whatever she wants. 
Her latest creation, Cocktail Beach Bar, is an artfully executed microcosm of that perfect carefree day at the beach. It instantly conjures up a mental image of relaxing in fragrant sea breezes, basking in warm sunshine, hearing seagulls crying as they fly overhead, and savoring icy, flavorful drinks. Eva’s creation captures it all so well, in fact, that it won First Prize in the Room Box Contest, decided by the votes of all the visitors at the 2017 Barcelona Miniatures Fair. It wasn’t her first win, as she has had two wins in other years with her Gypsy Traveling Cart , and her Romantic Bedroom. 
Her original idea was either to portray a beautiful summer night at a chill-out beach bar, with seating on a dock over the sea, delicious mojitos at hand, and the the sea in the moonlight, or, alternatively, perhaps a daylight scene of sunbathing, and looking at the horizon while laughing with friends, family, or a lover. Whatever the time of day, the beach bar vignette should transmit beach bar vignette should transmit happy feelings and relaxing vibrations. The contest rules specified maximum height/width/length measurements, which crunched Eva’s concept of having a long dock, so she had to adapt her initial imaginings to fit the dictated parameters. All of the structure was made by her from scratch, starting with a framework of cardboard and wood. Many wooden coffee stirrers and wood tongue depressors were used for the floor, and recycled cardboard as well. Her father, at that time 86 years old, helped her to cut the pillars and the railings. She painted the bottom of the ‘water’ (made from resin) with gradients of blue in order to simulate the sea depths, and she used many materials that she had on hand at home, including chopsticks (on which to hang the garlands of flags), cord, circular plastic pizza savers for the small round tables, water bottle caps, seashells (candle holders), and printables. A few things were made with polymer clay (candles, and fruit for the cocktails), and bottles from resin. The furniture pieces on the terrace were bought and painted by her. She also purchased a few small things from other artisans, and placed some seagull figures on the floor as “gifts from the angels that live in Ibiza.” 
“The lighthouse and a sea turtle were bought during my vacation that summer in Japan,” Eva explained further. “I love traveling, and I always look out for materials for my miniature work. I had a very clear idea that the colors should be deep blue and white, very Mediterranean. Finally, I added a garland of tiny lights that at night create a cozy atmosphere. The bar’s roof is covered by narrow wooden coffee stirrers, painted one by one with different tones of blue. The roof tiles are made with rough cardboard. I worked on it for about 3 or 4 months, and it wasn’t easy because I’m not really good at cutting and assembling wood. 
“Another difficulty was the structure; built from wood and recycled materials, it was tricky to be sure it was solid and well-assembled. Also, painting all the wooden coffee stirrers one-by-one was tedious. What was fun to create were all the accessories and the hut/bar; I enjoyed planning the structure and then filling it. My favorite part is the chill-out environment that makes it a place where I would love to be, seated there and enjoying the sunset.” Eva is open to selling her Cocktail Beach Bar for the right offer. 
While crafts have long been a part of Eva’s life, collecting dollhouse miniatures didn’t become her main focus until about 15 years ago. Soon she discovered that room boxes were an ideal venue to display her many miniature items, and in 2008 she realized she could create her own miniatures from polyform clay, allowing her to further evolve as an artist. “When I see those first room boxes I made, I realize that I would do them completely differently now, but I just have to view them as part of my history,” she recalled. 
Eva is basically self-taught. “I have participated in some workshops with very talented people, but that’s all. I would love to have had more formal training or an art background, and perhaps I can do that sometime in the future. I am totally an amateur miniaturist, and I am so grateful for people to know and see my mini work. Hopefully they can enjoy it as much as I do, and that my mini room boxes will inspire them. 
She summed up her work process, saying, “The first step is just having an idea. I always know how to start doing a room-box/diorama, but I never can foresee how it is going to turn out, because each has a life of its own during construction. Sometimes I redo, I repaint, I assemble and reassemble, but at the end the path of creation is always awesome because something beautiful appears from your mind and your hands. It’s just like magic!” 
Eva plans to start a new room box, and also to prepare new items for the Barcelona Miniatures Fair, scheduled for November 2020. During the last several years, she has participated as a seller in that show, the International Tom Bishop Show in Madrid, and also in open-air local markets and online miniature shows. To share her work, in 2011 she created her Facebook page, and in 2019 her Instagram account. 
She confesses some worry about the future of miniatures, saying, “It seems that miniature work has been going down the last years. Some shows around the world have fewer visitors and exhibitors, and the money spent by visitors is less. Now, with the pandemic, we need to wait to see what will happen. Working with miniatures is a hobby that joins family generations, and hopefully more people will become fascinated by the mini world. 

Contact information: 
Name: Eva Perendreu 
Business Name: Miniatures by Eva Perendreu 
Email: eperendreu@hotmail.com 
Website: https://www.facebook.com/HandmadebyEvaPerendreu/ 
Phone: +34 685465195 
Address: C/Rovira i Brusi, nº1, 3º 2ª, 08226 Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain 
Instagram:  @minisbyevap