"Le chant du cygne–an emotional farewell"

[WeekendMiniaturist 279]

• www.thomasopenhouse.com

I have been 'harvesting' all the Thomas' articles as time permits from Old Miniature Magazines... to have them all together in one place for my structure reference.   Pat wrote about the 62nd structure and posted a notice of the final article for the blog today.

A treasure trove of information lives on in those magazine articles and the smallhousepress blog.  Thank you Pat & Noel for the inspiration and knowledge that you have shared with us.

If you were to teach just one more class....! 

It has been an incredible legacy.

Enjoy the next phase of the adventure!

 

[WeekendMiniaturist 279]

I invite past customers, fans and students of Pat & Noel Thomas to post about your experiences - someday perhaps Pat & Noel will stop by and wave "Hi!"

[Mesouth 38]

Great topic, Tamra! I had the pleasure of taking a class with Pat and Noel sometime in the 80’s in New Orleans. We built the Greene & Greene Bungalow. They are masterful teachers and I learned so much! I use so many of their techniques, often! I did not complete this build at the time, but came back to it years later and it is one of my favorites. I still have a little roof work to complete., but it is displayed proudly in my living room.  Completion of the interior was not part of the class, so the interior includes a lot of my own design. I did a lot of research on Arts and Crafts decor and many elements in my build repeat a thistle design. My daughter named it Thistlethwaite. I still need one more piece of furniture. I think a chair by Lars Mikkelsen is in the near future.

Martha

[WeekendMiniaturist 279]

Martha, each time I think about the Thomas' I wonder why I didn't get myself to Guild School while they were teaching.   What was I thinking?  I think you took a class in the South, their classes were either in the Northwest, or Northern CA (Larianne's miniature store?) or Guild School, but never in Chicago... well, at least when I began attending the Chicago International and figured out who they were, I don't remember the Thomas offering classes in Chicago.  I am so glad that their work resides in Museums in the US to give us a chance to study and admire the Thomas' work.

There are so many wonderful classes in our current time frame, and I especially like IGMA's Guild Study Program.  I know the Late Summer or Fall GSP that can move to different areas of the US and IGMA has also offered classes in the UK (I think classes have been held at the Kensington show) to give students of the arts the opportunity to learn from our Artisans and Fellows and perhaps have less travel expenses.

I think I remember that the Greene & Greene Bungalow is also at the KC Toy & Miniature Museum, did you see anything in the structure at the museum that was helpful for your project?