I Capture the Castle

(9" X 9" X 4 1/2" D)

We've all heard the sayings- Queen of the Castle, I want to be treated like a Queen, etc... I had purchased this Queen figurine awhile back and she came with a matching King. I was going to use them as a pair, but nothing seemed to work. I've had them sitting in my studio for a few months now, trying out different ideas.

I also have a miniature crystal ball and dragon that I am trying to work into a piece of art. The dragon is one of the remaining "original" miniatures that I collected as a child in NJ. Now that I have figured out a scene for the Queen, the King might have to be all about the magic.

Last week while participating in the February Arts and Crafts Show, I met Aimee in the booth next to me who sells notebooks made out of old books. She was selling the spines of the books which she no longer had a use for. (10 for $1 if you need any) Talk about reusing. Well when I saw I Capture the Castle- bingo! I had my theme. I had never heard of the book so looked it up and found out that this was the first novel of Dodie Smith (published in 1949) who afterward became famous as the author of 101 Dalmatians.

The glass coffee stirrer with the crown was given to me by my friend Deborah who had saved up a whole bag of goodies for me.

The thimble was purchased while I was traveling in England about 10 years ago. There is an "underground" ticket on the back wall from that trip. Inscribed on the back of the thimble is 100th Birthday of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

I have used a lot of different purples in this piece as purple signifies royalty. The curtain is a vintage handmade piece from my grandmothers collection.

Besides finishing this piece today - this morning I lead my first 1/2 of a docent tour at the BAM... 6th & 7th graders touring the robot exhibit with Bonnie, my docent mentor. I think it went very well.

This evening I spent with Marianne from the Gypsy Gallery, we attended the Capital City Public Market annual meeting and then went to the Modern to drop off our application for the Modern art show scheduled for 1st Thurs. in May. Then since our hubbies were out of town...well we might as well stick around and have a drink at the bar. Tonight was vinyl night which was pretty cool.