(Aida Pravia - Hunter House)

Frozen Decadence in a Past Era

by Pam North

Aida Pravia’s recent project is a wonderful miniature scene of a a haunting vision of a past affluent era, frozen in time. The idea for her Hunter House, in 1:12 scale, was inspired by a steel art work done by her son, a rose made of steel, cold hand-worked. The stem is welded to the petals, and the two leaves to the stem at two points. The scene itself was entirely made by her except for the furniture, which she bought, then processed by painting and other touches. The structure is made with steel tubes welded together; the roof is a folded steel sheet, also welded to the structure; and the grid is made of steel that is adjusted to the structure with some welded points. The floor is of wooden planks. In the background are shelves with an abundance of handmade old books, and a fireplace commands attention in the center of the room.
Aida’s goal was a creepy, somewhat dismal atmosphere, and she said the result was very close to what she had intended. She was particularly pleased with the facade of the fireplace, and also the skeleton with the rose in his hand. The character of the scene was to show that at the end the only living being is the cat, and the atmosphere of the dusty scene was enhanced with spider webs and talcum powder. 
Aida cited the greatest difficulty in creating her piece was to achieve the vision that she had in her mind, a scene of the interior of a house where a banquet once was served, with an unforeseen and  macabre ending. None of the diners sitting at the table suspected what would happen next,  and nobody lived to tell about it. Only one diner remains of those originally seated there, and he has long ago turned into a skeleton holding in his hand the same metallic rose that is the original inspiration of this scene. The fate of the hostess was linked to that of a rose, so vulnerable to the passage of time.
Aida fell in love with miniatures 30 years ago, at an exhibition in her city. Formal training for her adopted craft was mostly in painting, a skill which she holds high in importance for creating realistic miniatures. Painting such tiny items creates added difficulties, but Aida has learned well how to adeptlyuse her many brushes. She created Hunter House with the intention of selling it, at a price of  2500 euros.
She loves miniatures so much that she says she could work 24/7 on them, and looking ahead, she has many more projects in mind to create, saying, “I am always looking for spaces to put my miniatures. I will be doing some scenes with ships and sailors, and this summer I am going to make furniture Bauernmalerei style (Bavarian Old Countryfolk art).
Her home is her workplace, and where she has a shop where she sells her pieces and can teach people aspects of making miniatures. She plans on teaching her workshops soon online. She also merchandises her products via the internet on Etsy, and in Oviedo in her shop. Her prices for pieces vary, depending on the product.
Her family enjoys her passion, and support her efforts. “They love my job and they are very involved . Also they make dinner!”
She finds inspiration in everything, saying, “My mind is thinking about miniatures all the time.”
She thinks the future of miniatures looks bright, and said, “Thanks to social media the world of miniatures is getting bigger, and people continue to love small things.”
Asked what she loves most about miniatures, she responded enthusiastically, “Every single part! I feel free when I am working on them. For me it is very beautiful to think of something, and then to be able to create it in reality afterward.”