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Dollhouses are the latest focus for semi-retired sign maker
Dave Foreman is a sign painter by trade, but his family delights in his skill as a craftsman building unique doll houses for his granddaughters. Foreman, 64, of Kittanning Township has produced at least 8,000 custom signs during the past 36 years, operating one of the only sign and graphic shops in Armstrong County. Semi-retirement has given him some time to work on more personal projects. “Making the doll houses helps keep the brain oiled up, and it helps me relax,” Foreman said. “Once you start, you really can’t get away from it.”
His craftsmanship and attention to detail can be seen throughout the Victorian house, yard and horse stable he built for his oldest granddaughter – 10-year-old Arianna Foreman. And it’s there in the modern architecture of a miniature home built for Arianna’s 4-year-old sister, Kiera. That little house was inspired by a visit Foreman made about 20 years ago to the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater house in Fayette County. Both doll houses are set up on platforms in Foreman’s workshop along Red Mill Road, where he and his wife, Dorothy, operate Dave Foreman Sign & Graphics.
“This is my ranch,” Arianna said, waving her hand with a flourish in front of the red and black-trimmed house and stable. Inside the little Victorian house, a family of dolls was engaged in domestic activities, while outside, a snowman toasted a freckle-sized marshmallow over a fire ring. Arianna plucked a miniature horse from the stable and held up a tiny carrot to feed it, picked from a little vegetable plot. Several years ago, Arianna helped her grandfather put together an earlier version of the house. But when Foreman began work in the fall on Kiera’s house, Arianna wanted a renovation.
“She got wind of it,” Foreman said. “I told her, ‘There’s no need to be jealous – you’ll learn how to be neighbors.’ ” Foreman, who graduated from Dayton High School and Lenape Technical School in 1968, said the most difficult part of his project was working on Kiera’s house. The diminutive structure is made entirely out of a stiff foam material used in sign-making and was a challenge to assemble. “My drafting experience really paid off. Everything started off on paper and had to be drawn to scale,” he said.
Kiera’s appreciation for her grandfather’s work was evident as she skipped from one side of her doll house to the other. “Here’s the tea set, and here’s the cake,” she said, pointing to a tea party shared by a group of dolls seated at a little table on the top floor. “And look,” she whispered, flipping a switch. That switch activated a cycle of water that flowed through the lower level of the house. The 140 hours it took to build “Kiera’s Kamp” and renovate “Arianna’s Circle A Ranch” comprised an enjoyable labor of love for Foreman. He’s even willing to take on similar doll house projects for others — but the work won’t be cheap.
“I’ll take on a challenge,” he said with a shrug. “But with my shop rate at $40 an hour, you’d have to want one really bad. Being semi-retired – a status that for him means making signs without delivery, installation or maintenance – allows him to choose only fun projects that interest him. And his artistic skills, which have brought business success and happiness to his family, seem to have passed on to his granddaughters. Both enjoy drawing and helping their grandfather, whom they call “Papa.” “I’m hoping down the road I’ll be helping them with projects,” he said.
For further information:
Dave Foreman Signs & Graphics
Red Mill Rd
Kittanning
Pennsylvania
16201
724-783-7639.
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