Issue 52 February 2026

16 Miniature Time Traveller January 1st 2026 by Jill Fraser A project for this coming year. Ann Andrews, a long time friend, found this unfinished kit set house, an Acorn kit , at a market and thought, “yes, just right for Jill. “ It has most parts but not all windows or doors. There is some moulding for ceilings, floors and walls. Someone had started to make a ‘distressed’ look house and painted over the window glass. My objective is to make it a stylish Regency house. As I am also building a four storey French Chateau, this is going to have to be a side project. My first take on returning home with it, was to give the frontage a good clean and clean all the window frames and remove the white paint from three of the windows. Already this is turning into a ‘heritage home’. The cotton wool roll I am using for cleaning all the nooks and crannies (by twirling a piece of cotton wool around the end of a paint brush) is the exact same roll I had at my first commercial Art Studio called Nova Airbrush Services back in the 1970s. Myself and a partner, Karla Anstice, hand coloured sepia toned portrait photographs for several photographers, and we used this cotton wool twirled around our paintbrushes to remove unwanted spray or to create white stripes in clothing, or a myriad of other uses. It has been included in my basic art supplies that have followed me around eleven homes in two countries, across 40 years. And here it is, still not all used up! It is intriguing to take on a project started by an unknown miniaturist. The accompanying notes are telling in their handwritten notations. For example the page that looks like it has been scragged by a jealous cat resonated. My own ginger cat has been guilty of this. Ann, showing how the sash window frames go up and down. This page could tell many stories. A frustrated moment by an unknown miniaturist? A playful puppy? A jealous cat? Below: the heritage roll of cotton wool!