Modern Dollhouse Rooms
"DollHouse Parlor / Close-up / Christmas"
© Leigh Harrison, 2008
Above the piano is a greeting card with one of Thomas McKnight's beautiful paintings, "The Red Retreat;" hanging from the "ceiling" are strings of Christimas lights -- actually a child's plastic necklace made to look like holiday lights.
"DollHouse Parlor (17" x 12" x 10.5") Christmas" © Leigh Harrison, 2008
The tiny "poster" on the left above the breakfront is an ad from a magazine for the Big Apple Circus. The "masks" next to the poster are buttons, and the "patchwork rug" is a potholder.
"DollHouse Living Room / Close-up"
© Leigh Harrison, 2009
The "masks" on the right wall are actually earrings; the print (Marilyn Monroe multiple) is entitled "Norma Jean Baker" (1988) by the wonderful artist, Paul Giovanopoulos.
"DollHouse Living Room (with hand holding tiny dog)"
© Leigh Harrison, 2009
I bought the tiny "dog" from a little boy at a sidewalk yard sale; the modernistic "carpet" is a sample from a decorator's book of fabric, and the "floor lamp" was a gift from a friend. The white "ottoman" in front of the sofa was a gift box for a ring.
"DollHouse Nursery / Close-up"
© Leigh Harrison, 2009
The "pink toyshelf" is a vitamin case without the lid; the "model ship" and "toy airplane" inside it are tiny buttons. The family "portraits" of little girls came inside a set of small picture frames I bought.
"DollHouse Nursery (in bookcase)"
© Leigh Harrison, 2009
The quilt on the wall is a real, tiny, miniature quilt; the "painting" on the right wall is Mary Cassatt's "Young Mother Sewing."
One of Leigh's hobbies, when she's not making music, is building dollhouse rooms, built to a perfect 12:1 scale. Here are photos of six dollhouse rooms -- a Living Room, Nursery, Dining Room, Parlor, Music Room, and a Woman's Bedroom. The Parlor was decorated for Christmas, and the Dining Room was decorated for Chanukah. At the bottom is a photo of four of the six rooms, as they are, stacked, in Leigh's home on a bookcase.
"Woman's Bedroom (close-up)"
© Leigh Harrison, 2012
Above the dressing table is a miniature of Robert Bertone's beautiful print "Three Muses." I bought a full-sized print of the same artwork when I met the artist at an art show in NYC.
"Four Dollhouse Rooms, Stacked On a Shelf"
© Leigh Harrison, 2010
"Music Room" © Leigh Harrison, 2012
There are miniature guitars, drums, congas, bongos, a piano, trumpet, cello, saxophone, and harp. On the wall is a scaled-down copy of the famous 1958 photograph by Art Kane of jazz musicians in Harlem. The "electric guitars" that hang along the right wall are refrigerator magnets; the red and black "conga drums" are 3" percussion shakers designed by Carlos Santana, and which I painted on top to resemble real drum skins. The blue "bookcase" which holds miniature flutes, maracas, and a tiny "trumpet," was formerly part of a vitamin case.
* * *
"DollHouse Living Room / Grand Piano"
© Leigh Harrison, 2011
This close-up shows the "grand piano" (actually
a music box) and a real 1" tall green candle in the candlestick. The "green plant" behind the piano is a plastic aquarium plant from a pet shop. The "poster" above right is a photograph of a large-scale 3-dimensional work by the delightful artist Yaakov Agam.
"DollHouse Living Room / Extreme Close-Up: Grand Piano" © Leigh Harrison, 2011
The "picture frame" is a real 1" frame, decorated with metal "flowers." The people in the photograph in the frame are my mother and father. The photo was taken shortly after they first met, at the end of World War II.
Dollhouse Rooms
stacked on a shelf
Woman's Bedroom
Formal Living Room
Dollhouse Nursery
Dollhouse Parlor
Music Room
Dining Room
"Dining Room / Jan.2012" (17" x 12" x 10.5")
© Leigh Harrison, 2012
"DollHouse Dining Room On Shelf"
© Leigh Harrison, 2012
The dollhouse Dining Room looks very real -- until you see that it's actually only 17" wide, located on top of a bookshelf in my apartment. I wish I had a dining room as elegant as this room appears to be!
An earlier version of the room; the "carpet" is a placemat, and the "placemats" on the table are fabric swatches. The wooden dining room chairs and breakfront (at left) were from my friend, Lorin Donadio.
"Woman's Bedroom On Shelf" (17"x10"x12") © Leigh Harrison, 2012
The dollhouse "room" is made of white 1/4" acrylic. The four-poster bed has "storage space" above for suitcases and duffle bags. The round "throw rug" is a 10" crocheted doily I bought at a yard sale.
To the right, you can see four of the six rooms: Nursery and Woman's Bedroom (above), and Parlor and formal Living Room (below) are stacked on a bookshelf in my apartmnet.
"DollHouse Formal Dining Room (2012)"
© Leigh Harrison, 2012
This photo shows the room, prepared for Chanukah, with
several decorative plates for the holiday on the walls.
