Interview with Sherpa

I had an interview with the lovely Sherpa, maker of dollhouses!

Here is the result:

What is your name and how old are you?
Sherpa is my name and I’m 50 years old.

When did you start making the dollhouses and why?
In 2006 I started my first dollhouse because the person I was living with at that moment had
asked me to make her a gazebo. It should have been a project of a month and became eight
months work.

What inspires your dollhouses and how long does it take for you to create them?
I love weird stuff and going back in time. Weird like the beach hut I have seen on a vacation in Caye
Caulker, Belize and I participated with it in a contest in the UK. Or weird like the Bedouin market
stall in a porcelain elephant.
Back in time like the Victorian lighthouse or what I'm working on at this time, a tudor house.
But also the individual miniatures are inspired by old or gothic, just look at the coffins.
The time that I need to make a home varies per house, there is a lot of time in designing and developing the houses. Some are specially designed and published in a dollhouse magazine and get no interior. The interior of the beach hut is down to the smallest detail.

Which dollhouse are you most proud of and why?
There is no house of which I'm most proud. All have their own unique style and look. What I am
proud of is that the homes that I design can be built as a real houses to live in. The scale in which the houses are built is 1:12 and if it cannot be seen in the picture that it is a scale model, my goal is reached.

Do you make other things as well? If so, what do you make?
I have painted and worked with small seed beads. And now I am beginning a traineeship for make up
for 3 years and if I complete that, I'll see what the future brings.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you or your creations?
I am remarkable enough and there is no need to put even more attention to it. As long as
I can put a smil on a person's face every day, my day is made.
A very good friend of mine always says, "Blessed are Those Who live out their dreams." ................ be
blessed.

http://the-sherpa2001.blogspot.com/

Below are some of the things Sherpa has made and Sherpa himself :-)
Thank you for this lovely interview.

Last photo made by Anomalis Photography

Interview with Steampunker Ro-i Berg

I had a lovely interview with Ro-I Berg, a Steampunker.

This is what came out of it:

What is your name and how old are you?
My name is Ro-i Berg and I am 27 years old

Can you tell my readers something about what steampunk is?
Steampunk to me is a subcatagory of science-fiction. To build or wear stuff that people in the
1800’s thought we would have today. And I love that you can apply it to a lot of themes.

Do you have a steampunk character and what is his name?
Not really. I play so many characters. They don’t stick around long enough to earn a name. When I make and play characters I call them what they are. Carnival rufian. Railroad worker. Steampunk diver (swimsuit edition). Drunken thug, etc.

What does steampunk mean to you?
It’s a dream platform. It gives a bit of a direction to what kind of crazy stuff I’m going to make next.

Where do you think steampunk is heading?
It’s growing and maybe too fast. My hope is that people will start taking more risks with their
characters. Less gears and goggles, and more original takes on the genre. We have seen all the
gountlets and wings you can think of.

What got you into steampunk originally?
Some French paintings of a 1800’s futurist. With the tag steampunk.

What inspires your costumes, do you make them yourself and how long does it take to create them?
I’m inspired by everyday things mixed with the thought, what would this looked like 200 years ago?
Kind of like the Flinstones.

Do you see a difference between steampunk culture in the Netherlands and the rest of the world?
I don’t have a lot of experience with the international scene. But from what I see online, at
least in style it’s generally the same.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you or steampunk?
When looking for inspiration, look for everything except steampunk. Don’t listen to the
scene. If you want to dress up as a Davinci statue and use just a metal leaf to cover your
private parts, do it. You will have a blast. And the people around you too. If they say it’s not
steampunk enough, screw them! First and foremost it’s about creativity and having fun.

Thank you Ro-I Berg for this interview.

Top pic made by Alex de Jonge