Weird Little Models in the Shop Window

These were in the window of a picture framing shop in Wareham in Dorset.

They must have taken so long to make as they are very detailed. Each one is doing part of the framing process. I wonder if they bear any resemblance to the people working in the shop?

The Creepiest Doll in the World?

I like china dolls but I know there are a lot of people out there who find them creepy (including my husband). 

I don't know if its just an intrinsic thing (like fear of spiders) or brought about by watching horror films as a teenager where they come and attack people, but their faces and clothing creep some people out.

So for those of you who don't like them... don't look!

She is at Pollock's Toy Theatre Museum in London: an odd place I have loved since childhood but not visited for years, until this summer. The museum is small, cramped, the flooring topsy turvey and staircases thin, but it is jam-packed with old toys from hundreds of years ago up to He-Man of the 1980s.

The building interiors look like something out of a film set and often there is no one else in the place, but if you like old toy theatres like this

or dolls houses like these

or toy forts like this

like to see exotic toys from other cultures or (like my friend and I in our 50's) enjoy saying "Oh I used to have one of those!" , then this is the place for you.

If you prefer your museums big, shiny, interactive or free - its not your kind of place.

But if you like the small, curious, left behind and weird in London... pay them a visit!

And did I Prisma her? You bet I did!

Tiny Planets/ Circular and the Eden Project

Yes I'm a bit obsessed with the Prisma App but that doesn't mean I haven't been feeding my photos through my other two favourites: Tiny Planets and Circular, to see what worlds could be created.

Eden as a planet... and a stretched landscape.

The ceiling and nutcracker machine in the exploration zone.

Mediterranean zone

Banana tree planet

The metal butterfly sculpture, transformed into a giant bee with the Eden project like a living jewel on its back.

The roof of the rain forest bio dome

And the dinosaurs

Lovely photo-twirling fun!
Finished Eden now... time to move on.

Prisma and the Eden Project

You may recognise some of the pictures from the un-prisma-ed versions in the previous Eden blog pages.

Spiky plant one and two (stained glass and urban)

Pterodactyls

Three  versions of the lazer cut paper cell from the weird science zone.

And the roof of the bio domes.

Soon to come... tiny planets/ circular versions of other photos from Eden  :)

Eden Project - A Box of Intestines and Other Wonders

There's a kind of science dome at the Eden project which uses humourous artwork models to demonstrate evolution, diversity, life etc. Here are some of the best bits from there...

This is a stone sculpture of a seed and is so gigantic you have to go up three floors of the building to travel from its bottom to its top.

A steampunk box, glass and hosepipe model of your intestines...

Bacteria Attack!

Only part of the world's largest, most unnecessarily complicated but utterly beautiful, nutcracker.

A lazer cut of some kind of cell, I think.

A panorama (who knew you could do them this way round? Not me till this day!!) of the beautiful ceiling.

And some life maintaining machine that looks like it comes straight out of Dr Who.

Of course I fed some of these Eden pics through some weirding apps once I got home so look out for those in a future post : )

Eden Project - The Dinosaurs!

These were rather well done and gave the kids something to enjoy if they were not into plants (which surprisingly few of them are!).

The flying ones are in the Mediterranean Zone and are stationary models. There is a story area below at appointed times.

These bigger ones are in their own darkened dome and are animatronic, Half of them is made to look like a normal dinosaur and the other shows their bones. Some are complete models and others are head and neck. Lots of teeth and noises make them very popular.

Out side this enclosed area there is a 'friendly dino' that children can pet as it put its long neck out of the tent into the sunshine, but there were so many people around it that I couldn't get a photo.

And to complete the 'air, land, water' trio, there is a large chamber, entered via fake coral corridors, that is lit to feel underwater. There is a huge tissue paper model of an adult dino and a puppeteer, who makes the baby one swim around and interact with the surroundings and the people walking around the central area (if you zoom in on the photo you will see her just left of centre).

Junior dino hunters have a passport/ quiz book that can be written in and then stamped.

Eden - The Mediterranean Zone

I spent far too much time taking photos of the structure of the bio-dome roof but did sneak a few plants in here and there.

(I confess to a little bit of Prisma here)

Next time... the dinosaurs!