Chinese Tea Room part 1: Illustration Board wall panels

Hello everyone,
I hope you're all doing well. I normally create a post when a room is finished, but since it's been a while since my last post I thought I'd just give you guys an update on the Room I'm currently working on.

I'm working on one of the rooms in the attic at the front of the house. Originally this was going to be a walnut panelled office, then library, finally I decided it will be a Chinese tea Room the Dewell's use to entertain prominent guests.

In this post I'll just talk about the construction of the panels which I made using illustration board. I've been asked by friends accross the sea exactly what illustration board is. It's basically thin layers of cardboard stuck together. I took one piece and seperated the corner to better explain.

I get my illustration board from my local art supply store

After I made the plans for the room I cut out each wall section in the illustration board. It warps when you paint it so you have to back it with something sturdy. Many miniaturists use lumber, but since I live in Montreal and order all my miniature lumber from "Manchester Dollhouse and Woodworks" in the States, I use it cautiously so as not to run out of building materials...I found Balsa here in Montreal, but there are no words to say how much I hate working with wood that soft. Since I have many small pieces of mdf leftover from building the Manor structure, I just glued them onto the back of the illustration boards walls.

You can see int he picture above that I made the mdf shorter then the illustration board to accommodate the sloped of the roof. I glued everything using carpenters glue. Next I glued on small rectangular panels which will eventually be finished with chinoiserie like in my first picture. When they were dry, I covered everything in gesso.

The center section will be a mirrored cabinet with doors to showcase teapots and tea caddies

This is the Fireplace wall, the medallion is a jewellery bit I glued on before painting. Illustration board makes it easier to cut odd shapes like the fireplace opening...I know it's crooked, I fixed it later on

And this is the back of the room

Gesso just helps to cover any joints and protects the edges of the board. Once it set I sanded it and painted the background red and the panels black

3 coats of red all over, then 2 coats of black over the panels

I painted the chinoiserie, but you'll have to wait till my next post for the finished pieces. Oh well...maybe just one bad picture...

The narrow vertical rectangles that were left black will have 3 shelves on them which will hold white vases and chinese teacups with blue and orange designs on them...Yes, I will be learning to work with Fimo! Around the mantel, the black panels and the chinoserie panels I will attach a gold molding strip which is in the mail. The shelves will be gold painted brackets from Sue Cook which are also on the way. If the brackets and molding arrive soon I should have this room finished in 2 weeks...and I have a wonderful gold and white plaster ceiling for the top of the room. I'm working on a parquet floor design...

And that's my progress. There would be more, but I was sick at the beginning of the month, then had my mom and my father-in-law's birthdays, then Ozzy's..

Happy Birthday Ozzy!

...and last weekend our friends had a Blessing for their daughter. I had told them I would make the cake since I made the one for their son, but then they asked Jo and I to be her godfathers so naturally I had to make the cake special...

And that, my patient friends, was July 2012 in the wonderful world of Giac!

Before I go, Some of you chose me for a "You Inspire me" blog award. I thank you all very much for the great honor. I tried very hard to choose who to pass it on to, but there are so many of you I just can't pick. So if you don't mind, I thought I'd do it this way. While every single one of you inspires me...yes..EVERY single one of you ...I decided to mention certain blogs that have helped me, or that I wish I had come upon earlier to help prepare me for Dewell Manor...be it finishing techniques, history or collecting! I hope you explore them and enjoy them as much as I do.

http://www.modernminiatures-whitledge-burgess.blogspot.ca/
   Faux wood finish, illustration board walls, curtains, "The Ultimate Glue"...Without Ray's techniques I would never have made the Manor what it is

http://dollshousesandminiatures.blogspot.ca/
   I wish I had read Andy's posts before I started. His miniatures are wonderful, and his historical period guides are one of the best tools you'll find on the web. I could of saved a lot of time and energy had I read his posts first.

http://www.exquisiteminiatures.blogspot.ca/
   Martha has dedicated her blog to showcasing the artists that have made our hobby great. Each post introduces me to a new artist and she encourages everyone to comment and add information about the work.

http://petitpunt.blogspot.ca/
   Many of Debora's posts are wonderful construction how to's and I've learned a lot of great ideas from her

http://elgakoster.blogspot.ca/
   I just love furniture and look forward to the challenge of making my own someday. In the meantime, Elga's posts show you so many techniques and I will definetely re-read them all before I start.

http://john-merrimanpark.blogspot.ca/

http://miniatureenthusiast.blogspot.ca/
   John and Simon were amongst my very  first followers. Like me, they started blogging about their scratch built projects and I think our projects are very much the same in so many ways...My sign is Taurus and my ascendant sign is Scorpio, so I still get confused by the Gemini-Effect these two have, but the end results always speak for themeselves. ;)

Well, that's what I had for the moment. thank you all, old friends and new, for your support and encouragement. You all know how big miniature projects really are, and it's great to have the priviledge to get to know all of you and all your wonderful artwork...yes, we are all artists!

I send you all the best and look forward to seeing more of your wonderful posts.

Big hug,
Giac