I wanted to hang a few pictures on the wall of this shop to give it some character and to convey its seaside location. After much deliberation, I decided to use three of my favorite photos from my various trips to Castiglioncello (home of the now-closed Gelateria Bocelli).
To make the frames, I used molding specially designed for dollhouse picture frames.
I painted them white, followed by a satin varnish.
For the glass, I used a sheet of polycarbonate plastic, cut to size. After framing the photos, I glued on a backing of scrap photo paper.
This photo shows the beach at Baia del Quercetano, where I spent countless afternoons with my friends from the Pro Danza Italia dance festival (in 1994 and 1997), lounging on the beach and swimming in the sea.
This is the beach at Caletta, the location of Castiglioncello’s popular Festa del Pesce (fish festival).
Perched on the cliff above Baia del Quercetano is the pink Hotel Baia del Sorriso (on the right), where I spent a memorable week in 2003. Another pink villa sits to the left of the hotel. These iconic structures were my original inspiration for the design of my dollhouse, until I discovered an old photo showing that the real-life Gelateria Bocelli was housed in a pink stucco building as well.
Here are the pictures hung on the wall.
