Miniature Haunted Room Challenge: The Ghost of Edward Gorey

Whew! I finished my miniature haunted room just in the nick of time. I guess I work better under a deadline or maybe it was the embarrassment of not finishing my own challenge?

After months of contemplation, I decided to do a miniature room in honor of Edward Gorey. I love his drawings and wanted to replicate a room as he might have drawn it. When you look at the room you're probably going to think "Why did that take so long?" Well, I spent a lot of time convincing myself that less is more with Gorey. I wanted to add in every Gorey-esqe detail I could list: the chaise lounge, the wood paneling, the patterned wallpapers and fabrics, tufted ottoman, urn, heavy drapery, swooning women, a spooky fern, bookshelves, cats,.... the list goes on. I spend hours searching online and in shops for each of those items only to realize that when you look at a Gorey drawing they're really rather sparse in items. So I've put my pencil down. I present to you a room haunted by the spirit of Edward Gorey- complete with his portrait.

The room box is a display case I purchased at Michaels meant for a football. Originally I planned to purchase miniature wood windows and mount them on the glass but then decided to drawn them in. After all, Gorey is about drawing. Hours of searching for the right wallpaper and carpet was finalized with a trip to Michaels scrapbooking paper section. It was a total fluke, but think they work.

I had a hard time deciding what to do about the figures. I thought about making my own, but as time ran out, I realize I was either going to have to go with no figures or find something online. I ended up purchasing the Victorian woman from a London shop called Minimum World. Despite the shipping cost, she was incredibly inexpensive and the quality is amazing. I highly recommend them. 

I feared she wouldn't arrive in time so, Monday night (yes this past Monday) I suddenly had an idea to include the Doubtful Guest. I stitched like a madwoman to create him. The doll did arrive on Wednesday and I decided to include them both.

I almost forgot to mention that the urn, after searching for hours, it was located at the local Goodwill Thrift Store. It was originally a brightly colored metal drinking cup that I painted flat black and added a lid from a resin birdbath that had broken! The chaise lounge was purchased from a seller on Ebay.

The final touch was a small portrait of Gorey. I snatched a drawn portrait online that is from the in-process Gorey Documentary- sorry, it was just so perfect! I copied it onto watercolor paper to give it some texture and put it in a miniature framed mirror I found at Michaels. 

Ta da! It's done and I love it. 

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the Challenge (Tanya, Renee, and Kristy) I had so much fun that I think you'll see more spooky miniatures here.