House No. 55: Quinzhee

House No. 55: Quinzhee
ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, digital layout
8.5 in. x 11 in.
055/365; 02/24/11

A quinzhee, for those who are unfamiliar, is also known as a snow hut, cave, or shelter. "What is the difference between a quinzhee and an igloo?" you might ask. (I know I did.) The answer is that a quinzhee is carved out of snow while an igloo is built from blocks of it.

While igloos are a tradition of the Inuit, and are crafted in a specific manner, quinzhee are built and used in many places.

Quinzee were even built in Princeton, New Jersey in the eighties. I remember my mom building them with me when I was wee. She would carve out a snow drift to make me a snow house and a snow couch and a snow bed ... The making was the fun part.

What can I say? I liked making houses. Well, some things never change, do they?

House No. 10: Home Cooking

 

House No. 10: Home Cooking
bread, milk, eggs, vanilla, powdered sugar, apricot jam, and whipped cream

7 in. x 5 in.

010/365; 01/10/11

Have you ever noticed that when the forecast calls for snow, everyone seems to deplete the grocery stores of milk, eggs, and bread? I have often wondered if there is some tradition that I do not know about, that everyone makes french toast on snow days. Well, it is supposed to snow again this week, so here is a themed breakfast in the hopes that it will be enough accumulation for a snow day.

House No. 4: The Dresden Walls

House No. 4: The Dresden Walls

repurposed paper, foil, and miscellaneous scrap on chipboard

6.5 in. x 6.5 in.

004/365; 01/04/11

Being a human magpie, I collect every shiny thing that I come across. I have organized boxes of paper, candy foils, laminated papers, the interiors of tea bag envelopes ...

For today's house, I thought that I'd break into my collection, which actually includes a few pieces of Dresden foil scrap that I didn't end up using. The metallic paper being an homage to the Dresden handicraft, I decided to make today's home in one of the styles of Saxony.

I find the most unique part of the house's collage, and what makes it look like the houses of that region, is the foiling of the half-timber that ornaments the walls.

Update 04/20/2011: Better photo.

Now with 100% more natural light.

 

Ahh. So much better.