About this time of year, we’re wishing the courgettes/zucchini piling up in our kitchens were the size of Vicky Guile’s polymer miniature versions. This UK artist’s veggies are only an inch long.
Vicky’s bowl of artichoke, aubergines, cauliflower and red onions looks fresh from the garden.
Those of us who started out making miniatures with our kids have a special fondness and admiration for those who can fool our eyes at 1:12 scale. See more on Facebook (NJD Miniatures).
Inga Rosenberg (Kni.Kni) from Latvia has a thing for elephants. She set herself a challenge to create one polymer mandala elephant each month this year. While they are lovely, what’s even more astounding is their size. They’re each 1 1/2 inch by 1 inch (3×4 cm) and here’s the picture to prove it. This was her mini-mandala for March.
Imagine the patience it takes to create at this scale. “I got my peace back,” she says of her effort, “The peace I get while making each of them is indescribable.” Last month’s Chocolate Cake with Cherries elephant is mouthwateringly lacy and beautiful. You’ll have to see the whole herd to appreciate Inga’s skill.
Inga’s tiny elephants transport me right back to Nepal (here’s a photo from our trip) and the latest posts from the Samunnat ladies who are busy buying cement and building supplies for their new home which is becoming a reality because of your generosity. Your contributions of cash and karma mean that they will have a safe place to call their own.
Your heart will melt when you read what this means to them. Samunnat beads are for sale on KazuriWest and their jewelry is sold through their Etsy shop.
That’s what Stephanie Kilgast discovered. She was mobbed by miniaturists in Hong Kong at her press conference there a few months back. Her sushi platter brooches and earrings sell quickly. Catch the pictures and the news video.
Stephanie was born in Germany, lives in France and travels the globe showing her miniatures. She studied architecture but shortly before graduation she discovered polymer miniatures. After graduation she became a full-time miniaturist. That was in 2009.
Her mini-Easter eggs and chocolate bunny fit our week perfectly. You’ll find a bunch of Stephanie’s free tutorials on her site. She’s also on CraftArtEdu, CDHM.org, Flickr and in all the usual places. It’s best to look when you’re not hungry! Thanks to Donna Kato for the link.
Just a few days after the big holiday season and already the hearts are popping up for the next celebration. Tejae Floyde is in her element and this year’s line includes a polymer heart with a love-me/love-me-not indicator. See the video for her Spinner Hearts.
And in the “awwww” category, Melissa McCarthy shows off this 2-inch tall miniature love tree that’s topped with a heart. Her Etsy shop is appropriately titled Made with Clay and Love.
More to come in the heart department!
Toronto’s Afsaneh Tajvidi designs lovely delicate jewelry and sells her jewel-tone watercolors and prints on Etsy. Every once in a while she gets the urge to play with polymer – usually when she’s inspired by her window sill succulent garden or has a request for a cake topper.
Afi rediscovered a stash of tiny flower pots that she had collected and started making a new miniature cactus collection in colors that delight the eye. Is it the gelato colors that make them so mouthwatering?
Here’s her polymer collection on Flickr, her Facebook page, her Etsy site (with a feature on Afi) and her blog.
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Housing starts are on the rise, at least in the polymer world. Two new ones – Inessa (smfactory) from Kiev with her Halloween houses and Slovenia’s Marjana Cajhen collections of buildings got me house hunting. You may remember a few others featured on PCD:
These nostalgic and stylized designs make popular wearable and decorative reminders of simpler times and places.
Germany’s Reinhard Fritz knows himself well! In his Facebook photos you can watch small life-like versions of him emerge in polymer over armatures of aluminum foil and wire.
For those of you holding out on Facebook, here’s a little montage of his work in progress and a picture of Reinhard with his self portrait.
His grin hints at mischief and amusement. Here’s his Flickr site.
Sometimes it’s good think inside the box as in Dawn Schiller’s latest polymer OddFae tucked in a 1″ locket. Guru in a box? Consultant in a box?
Dawn cautions, “For the record — If anyone EVER hears me say, Gosh, I’m bored! I think I’ll sculpt a little, tiny, less-than-an-inch-tall oddfae into a copper box! Feel free to whop me upside the head ’til I drop the sculpting tool.”
Check out more of her work in the June issue of PolymerCafe magazine. Her Faemaker book is due out this August. Read about her latest exploits on FaceBook and Etsy.
Sweden’s Lena Wennberg adds a few angry polymer birds in with her Easter eggs this year.
“My hens are in menopause, probably got PMS as well,” she says, “And they are sick of giving and giving. They are keeping their eggs this easter. They won´t be beautiful, they won´t be nice.”
If you can appreciate an alternate view of the holiday from a few outspoken chicks visit Lena’s Etsy site.
A bit of sunshine and the UK’s Pippa Chandler is already envisioning a hamlet of beach hut beads.
Her tiny polymer cottages measure 2cm high x 1cm wide with caned doors and windows and textures accentuated with acrylic paint.
With the kids back in school and the house quiet, Pippa’s muse hid for a while. Read her blog to see how she coaxed inspiration out of hiding for this little seaside adventure.
