The Art Gallery

This was a particularly fun piece to build. It all started when I stumbled upon a stamp show and noticed that one dealer had many stamps that were issued by Arab countries inthe 60's that featured Western paintings! The scale was remarkably accurate and so I bought them by the handfuls! Now that I had a fine art collection to rival the Louvre or the MET, I of course had to build a suitable Gallery for them. Having also  found various "objects d'art" I knoew I need floor space as awell as wall space . The columns are a early exercise using my miniature lathe. My dad gave me "turning" lession on his full size lathe so the miniature one was pretty easy to use. The chandeliers and wall sconces were originlly wired with 12 vold grain of wheat bulbs. But after many years of use they eventually burned out. they have all recently been converted to a 3 volt LED system which should last for many years to come. When I taught Grade 8 English my students had a writing  assignment and were each assigned an artist to research and write about. During that assignment I would bring this room to school and set it up in the library. I offered extra credit for anyone who could name the artist of each of the paintings in the gallery. I still do this when ever it goes on display.