The Mad Hatter At Home

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end.  Then stop."  
Lewis Carroll

My favorite character in Alice in Wonderland is the Mad Hatter.  Inspired by the fairly recent Alice movie starring be-still-my-heart Johnny Depp and made by the quirky Tim Burton my miniature motivation started brewing and an old clock case called to be put into use.
 
I envision the Mad Hatter to be a curious fellow, for whom it is always teatime. Of course, he is mad, which is his charm, but also creative, messy and he lives in clutter because imaginative and mad people really do not have time for tidying things up.  He's also absent minded and forgets where he left his tea.

Old clock case now a miniature diorama

" Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where -"
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."  LC

Sometimes you just have to start.  Jump in and go. There had to be the black and white checks but the rest was up for grabs and became purple.  Probably because I found scrap book paper with a Mad Hatter theme.  And that was the start.  I already had a tall chair I had made for a customer for whom it did not suit but I liked the chair and it looks like the Mad Hatter's chair so that became the first furnishing.  

Bit by bit it grew from there keeping in mind the Mad Hatter lives here.  But he is not here.  

And yet the Cheshire Cat, who can vanish at will, is.   

The amazing cat was made for me by Kerri Pajutee. 

How about that grin?

The Cheshire Cat made by Kerri Pajutee

Following is the stuff the Hatter needs in his room including all the tea things and those items he needs to design and make his mad hats. All messy.  When you can't figure out why a raven is like a writing desk you do the best you can.

"How do you know I'm Mad?"
"You must be or you wouldn't have come here".

The Hatter's work desk

Padded Bulletin Board

Mad Hatter Hat Making Supplies

 "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast"

There is an inherent weirdness in the Alice tale written nearly 150 years ago and it is as popular today as it ever was.  Wonderland finds itself the subject of many miniature translations and this is mine.  I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be at Oxford University and heard the history of the characters as they populated the school back in Lewis Carroll's day and the eccentric characters are as endearing as ever.  And everything about Alice in Wonderland translates very well into miniature.


 "Yes, that's it!, said the Hatter with a sigh, "it's always tea time"

There are lots of tottering tea things here that are certainly impossible. But without a doubt things like this happen in Wonderland every day.  Sometimes, I think it would be pleasant just to stay there.

Drink Me

Forgotten Hats

Sleeping Dormouse

Tea Cart

We all fall down the rabbit hole from time to time and being there need not always be tragic, however bizarre that journey might be.  This was a fun journey for me so I hope you like it.  Please tell me below what you think.

Furnished Room Box
Portrait is a watercolor from the J. Depp Hatter. Photo of the original Alice.

The Purging Project ~ Miniature Clutter, OH NO!!

" Bottom line is, is you don't need it, it's clutter and it needs to go" ~ Charisse Ward

Yes, it is time to purge my hoard of miniature bits and pieces that I have overly collected.  I have been doing this for some time now and still have quite the stockpile. At some point in my miniature creating career I started doing 'assemblages' of things.  That required me to acquire a s**t bunch of stuff in case I might need it the next time one of these projects called me.  So every odd and cheap little thing went into the pile.  I could use this for that and that for this.  Well, you see.  The table below came out of the stash of stuff.

Witch's Kitchen Spell Table ~ Made from the Hoard ~ 1:12 scale

And the creepy stuff underneath !!

I'm not calling myself a hoarder, but... 
This kind of thing can get out of hand.  Its hard to stop, like chips.  In the end I just have too much and I need to weed it out.  It distracts.  It beckons. It keeps me from the hundred other projects in my head.  Lately I have been pulling it out piece by piece and turning it into something else.  My problem is that when I come across a pile of stuff that I am willing to part with I start fiddling with it until it becomes something else.

Stack of hand made books with mouse !

Stack of books with frog and action figure candle

An inexpensive metal tea set that came out of a lot of miniatures that I won on eBay became this spooky, ghostly tea set magically pouring itself.  I have done many of these in the past in different variations and every witch needs a set like this.  This reminds me of the enchanted muggle things in the Harry Potter books. 

Witchy Tea Set

This commercial and not very pretty chair became this one of a kind piece for a 'haunted' place.  It was awesomely fun to do because I sculpted a ghastly face onto the wood of the chair and then painted the spooky tree on pale gray silk for the upholstery.  And I found out that I LOVE painting on fabric. So another thing on my list...

Spooky Miniature Chair

Not every thing turns into a spooky thing - but mostly - because that seems to be a favorite of mine as well as collectors.  I still have a long way to go.

SO...what does your hoard look like?  Tell me.