(Eva Perendreu - Romantic Greenhouse)

A Perfect Summer Day in Miniature

by Pam North

Eva Perendreu, an avid miniaturist in Barcelona, Spain, loves creating room boxes. She has always loved crafts, but began focusing on dollhouse miniatures about 15 years ago, using room boxes as the primary venue to display the many miniature items she had purchased. In 2008, her discovery of polymer clay wrought a major change for her; she discovered that she could make many of the items herself. “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. “Miniatures are my passion. Thanks to them, I have traveled and have met wonderful people from many parts of the world and especially in my own country.”
During the last several years, she has participated as a seller in the Barcelona Miniature Show and the International Tom Bishop Show in Madrid, also 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.
Eva’s recent piece, A Romantic Greenhouse, was her entry in last September’s contest at the Barcelona Miniature Show, and it reflected the theme of an enjoyable scene. “My idea was a greenhouse where one could escape from daily troubles,” she explained. “It would be a warm and cozy place where the sun shines in, where one could work with flowers and gardening and smell the soil; a place to hide and heal if necessary, or read a book while seated in a comfortable chair. I found this lantern, white and distressed in finish, and I thought that, with some magic, it could become a beautiful and romantic miniature greenhouse. It actually is my second greenhouse, each totally different from one another.”
She elaborated on the process she used. “The first step was to create the back wall and the floor, and I did both with foam. I sculpted the bricks, gave them texture and then color for realism. The window limits the space for accessories in the back wall, but it also helps to create a better atmosphere. I really like its shape and that it’s partially framed by the ivy. I made many of the plants that are in the greenhouse: the hydrangea, wreath, gerbera, peonies, pansies, blue vine and ivy were made with paper. It is a small scene but transmits spring, smiles, and good vibes, don’t you agree?”
She cites no formal training in her hobby, simply “just learning by doing.” Currently working full-time in her job as a biologist, she has less free time as she would like to pursue her interest in miniatures, but she manages to enjoy her hobby and to improve in her creativity. “ It’s not always easy combining real life and miniature-making, since my job often keeps me so busy, but I push to continue because it cheers me up and it keeps my mind healthy. Now in a slightly slowed-down period in her regular job, she is concentrating on learning more about making miniatures, improving her techniques, and trying new things. “I love to do miniatures related to fantasy, fairy homes, trees with faces, parties in the forest. I love nautical themes, probably because I live close to the Mediterranean Sea, so I have room boxes and thematic displays with items related to the sea. I also like cupcakes, carts, bakery tables, ponds, fountains, and everything that makes people smile. New challenges are the best to keep you fresh.”
“Inspiration is everywhere for me,” she continued, “in Pinterest, Instagram, miniature magazines, and certainly in daily life, because miniaturists always are thinking about how to recreate scaled-down objects or rooms!”
Her workplace is a combination of her craft room and her job office. “It’s completely white with a lot of natural light (in fact I have a window on the roof over my table). I am surrounded by lots of cabinets, some of them glass exhibition cabinets, full of my miniatures and my collected ones from other artisans.”
She said what she loves most about miniatures is “that one’s creativity has no limits,” and what she finds most difficult about working with them is the obvious: “The size!”
She sells her products in Etsy or at miniature shows, and also can be contacted by Instagram or her Facebook page.
Eva’s work has been noted: she has won the contest in the Barcelona Miniature Show twice, with her Gypsy Cart (featured in AM 141) and her Chill-Out Beach Bar; another time she won second place with her Romantic Bedroom (featured in AM 143). and in an online contest she won third prize with her Brocante Shop.
A cautious optimism colors her view of the future of miniatures in general: “It seems that possibly because of the global crisis, the miniature work has been going down in the last years. Some shows around the world have fewer visitors, fewer exhibitors, and less money is spent, but hopefully that situation will  recover soon.”
As for what’s next for Eva and her creations, her plans include a very special Christmas room box, and to prepare new items for the Barcelona Mini Show in November 2020.

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