(Eva Perendreu)

Shades of a Fall Palette

by Pam North

Many miniaturists collect myriad odds and ends along the way, waiting for that moment of inspiration when that odd stored bit will provide the absolutely perfect accent to whatever scene they are trying to create. Often those accumulated pieces lie in storage for years, waiting for that magic moment when they are called upon to be the final touches to that culminating moment when everything comes seamlessly together in that perfect tableau. This is the story behind Eva Perendreu’s scene. All her stored pieces, along with the warm, rich hues of an autumn palette combined flawlessly under her expert touch to turn into a wonderful little room box encapsulating all of fall’s inherent beauty.
“In the cabinet of my craft room I had stored some beautiful items, such as a gorgeous pumpkin wreath, a seed bag, a sunflower pillow, a decorated broom (from Marisol), a manufactured tiny tea shop house, a window wreath, a Thonet chair (from Gema), and a Halloween gingerbread house (from Steph). A few years ago I also had bought a house-shaped wooden frame, so I decided to add the back wall and cover it with wooden sticks painted, one by one, with a warm range of autumnal colors: greens, reds, oranges, and browns.”
She looked for a beautiful wallpaper with tiny autumnal leaves in various shades, and then she  added the wooden floor and the roof tiles. A two-tone painted table with a distressed look added the perfect focus, and the scene was almost done. All those tiny miniatures she had collected would provide the perfect touches to bring everything together.
“Of course the window allows the sun enter during the day,” Eva continued. “What an amazing feeling it is to feel the sun on our skin through a window on a very cold day when we are protected and cozy at home.”
She sculpted tiny mushrooms and placed them inside a miniature glass dome, and she crafted a tiny  polymer clay succulent plant in an acorn-cap bowl. The tiny green pumpkins are dry seeds that she just lightly touched with paint. A few additional touches such as some dry roses on the ceiling or a lamp helped further to impart the cozy atmosphere that she wanted, and the bright sunflower accent was a pop of color. “The two sidewalls were still naked, however, so I asked the Spanish miniaturist community about how to do a patchwork quilt or something similar, and one more time I was presented with the answer. I received a gift from Marisol only one week later, that beautiful patchwork wall hanging piece with a pumpkin. I only had to quilt it a little bit more. It’s just wonderful, and an absolute treasure!”
Finally, for the other wall she created an artful mix of natural items that are so seasonally inherent in autumn, almost a botanical compilation. “I built the wooden frame, and in the back wall I glued drawings of leaves, pumpkins, mushrooms and flowers. I added a mushroom, a piece of wood with lichens, dried flowers, dried seeds with a pumpkin shape, tiny pine cones, and a little wooden reindeer. Sometimes it is quite easy to create a beautiful scene, like this one, with miniatures collected through the years, bringing those pieces back to life with relevance in another time.”
Eva’s vision and deft touches certainly bring inspiration to other miniaturists who doubtlessly will enjoy seeing the warm seasonal ambience in her scene, and feel its coziness.