Miniatures

My Miniatures

Storytelling is at the heart of everything I make

I spent most of my career teaching history to students of all ages. I've always found that the deepest connections were made in my classroom through storytelling. Sharing not only facts and dates, but also the stories that provide depth to the facts and dates. My favorite part was learning which stories my students connected with and how different their interpretations were from mine-- and that is what I seek to create in my miniatures: stories that I share, but that which the viewer can attach their own personal connection to.

Characters

Singular Pieces

Many times I build characters to experiment: with a new tool, a new medium, or an attempted recreation of a familiar fixture.

Converted Inspiration

Other times my characters come from a pure thread of imagination. I often find myself seeing a piece of discarded scrap and say "I can turn that into something!"

Playing a Part

Sometimes I create characters for specific scenes - like a hanging, potted plant for a backyard scene - and I find that some characters make their way to the spotlight and steal the show!

Scenes

My Bread and Butter

When I was young, I used to cut out photos from the Sears catalogue and piece them together to create scenes in shoe boxes. My workspace has changed, and I've graduated from photo clippings, but the spirit I found as a child creating miniature dioramas is the same spirit that wakes me up before the sun and locks me in my studio, tinkering away. I love building worlds that are new, and also feel so familiar.

Collection of Characters

I wouldn't say I make "doll house" furniture per say, but often a experiment, or an inspired design, will end up becoming three or four pieces that undeniably form a recognizable room in a dwelling.

A Moment in Time

Scenes are where the history teacher in me really comes through. I love creating a scene that illicit immediate questions: What were they reading? Why is the phone off the hook? Where were they going in such a rush?

ACTS

A Through Line of Story

As with any good book, characters and scenes are amassed with the intention of revealing a larger plot - a through line - that make all the little pieces (pun intended) come together to tell a cohesive and well thought-out narrative. I revel in the proverbial step back to look upon a series of scenes full of characters that tell these such stories. Whether the story we tell together is short or multi-dimensional, I aim to make your "step back" as rewarding as it is for me.

Artisan Miniatures and Watercolors Contemporary and Vintage Collectibles