Gardener’s delight…
In part four of this series, Candy Chappill shares how to create some essential tools for your greenhouse and garden scenes.
You will need Materials required
Old pencil
Acrylic paint
Grey polymer clay Green polymer clay PVA glue
Twine
Tools required
Hand saw Sandpaper
Drill & drill bit Paint brush Roller
2mm spacers Craft knife
Tile
Scissors
5mm spacers Texture mat Tissue blade Hand drill
1 Cut an 8cm section out of an old pencil. 2 Sand one end of the pencil into a diagonal slope. I then sanded all the old paint off so the pencil was wood. 3 Using a small drill bit, drill a hole in the other end of your pencil, this is for the handle. 4 Repeat the above steps so you have two, and then paint them both your chosen colour. 5 Roll out some grey polymer clay 2mm thick onto an old tile. Cut out a fork and spade shape using your craft knife. Making a template to trace helped me here. 6 Once baked and cooled, use some sandpaper to refine any rough edges.
7 Glue your polymer clay pieces onto your handles using some PVA glue.
The fabric of miniatures
Walking into the miniature world of David Castillo is like stepping into one of the finest auction houses, finding yourself surrounded by the tangibility of days gone by. It is David’s ability to bring the past to life in such vivid detail which makes him one of 2021’s most exciting artisans. His diverse portfolio also includes a number of mid-century modern and contemporary pieces, a leather lounge chair inspired by the 1956 design of Charles and Ray Eames amongst them. Crediting his boyhood creativity for playing a huge part in developing his imagination, David later studied architecture and interior design in Madrid, giving him the opportunity to embark on a career which would help influence his later focus on small scale. “I worked in different studios and was able to create spaces and carry out full-scale designs,” he says. “This helped me to perfect my sense of proportion, balance and beauty in the pieces and in the spaces. Today I only design interiors for friends but it was an important part of my training as artisan.”