Artist Creates Graceland in Miniature and We Are (All) Shook (Up)!

Heidi Athay hails from Toronto, Canada and is a lifelong and passionate Elvis Presley fan, so much so, that she got married at Graceland in 2008, the mansion this rock and roll music icon lived in Memphis, Tennessee before his passing in August of 1977.

While Ms. Athay has a creative arts background in tv, film and animation, she has never worked in miniature. When the pandemic lockdown hit, she decided to start an ambitious project of crafting a 1/24 scale model of Presley's mansion and scratch-building every element right down to his iconic white and gold baby grand piano!

A classic mid-century modern sunburst clock framed in a brushed gold design adorns a wall of antiqued mirror tiles. The marble fireplace is complete with a coordinating firescreen with fireplace accessories surrounded by plush white carpet.

The miniature version of the Knabe baby grand piano in white, considered to be one of the most significant pieces of Elvis Presley music memorabilia , was crafted using balsa wood, cardboard, polymer clay, beads and craft paints.

Heidi replicated the stained glass doors decorated with peacocks located between the living room and music room. Elvis was a religious man and the doors made using peacocks, ancient Christian symbols of eternal life and resurrection.

Some of the key features of this tiny build includes the luxurious heavy blue drapes trimmed with sweeping gold fringe, framed reprints of oil-painted portraits of the King himself, a miniscule push button telephone and a retractable samurai sword nestled in a drawer of the breakfront.

Heidi expects it will take another year to complete the project. In the meantime, we're planning a special Instagram Live event on Thursday, June 17 at 7pm ET (@dthomasminiatures) so we can chat about Tiny Graceland, take a look at the latest developments on the tiny mansion and hear more about her trials and tribulations getting all of the parts just right!