Grand Prize Winner: Here Be Dragons!

There's a massive hole in the roof and there are no signs of life. Well...no human signs, that is.

In Rebecca Reckin's piece "Hic Sunt Dracones" (Latin for "Here be Dragons" ) a creature named Thistle is curled up and sleeping soundly inside a cottage, which is in utter disrepair, surrounded by his hoard consisting of gold, gems and other sparkly treasures.

It appears that the cottage has been in disrepair for some time and the original owners are no where to be found. Bones are strewn about (including those from the family bird in an empty cage!) and a collar with a bell belonging to the family cow is still attached to a wall outside. Rusted keys remain in a dusty basket near the door.

Outside, the garden is overgrown and bright green moss appears in every nook and cranny. The floorboards look like they creek.

Rebecca Reckin (IG @MelodyofMiniatures) is the grand prize winner of this year's HBS/Minaitures.com annual Creatin' Contest in recognition of her work. This is the first time this homemaker, blogger and miniaturist from Auckland, New Zealand, has entered the contest and only the second international winner. She loves fantasy builds and was inspired to create the piece by Hobbiton, the town where they filmed the Lord of the Rings films which is located near her home.

Winners of the latest Creatin' Contest were recently announced and we're excited to be hosting Rebecca and other talented miniaturists on a special Meet the Miniaturist:Winners Edition on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 4pm ET. This special Zoominar is sponsored by HBS/Miniatures.com.

Since 1975, HBS/Miniatures.com has been supplying quality dollhouse products to retailers and miniatures enthusiasts across the United States and around the world. The annual Creatin' Contest , started just a few years after the company was formed, has since engaged, motivated and inspired miniaturists to use a simple unfinished kit and a lively imagination to create award-winning tiny treasures!

Register and join us for this live event on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 4pm ET here: http://bit.ly/MTMHBS. We’ve extending participation for this event and everyone who registers will be able to join this Zoom. You can always catch program replays on our YouTube channel https://bit.ly/DThomasYT. By registering for this event, you agree to have your email address added to our distribution for future updates. You can opt out at any time, but hope you won’t!

To celebrate the event, HBS/Miniatures.com is offering Meet the Miniaturist viewers with a special offer! Use promo code MTM40 and receive 40% off your highest priced item on any one order placed between Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 12:00am ET and Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 11:59pm ET.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the Zoom!

The Outdoor Mini Gallery!

The past year has been a challenge for everyone. We have all been looking for new ways to entertain and occupy ourselves and learn new things. We see a substantial growth in the interest in miniatures as a hobby across the US and the globe as we all moved inside due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This has led to the rediscovery of childhood dollhouses nestled away in attics and basements and many have undertaken refurbishing projects. Others have turned to creating small art and crafting tiny treasures on their kitchen table tops and some have even created dedicated workspaces in their homes. A natural inclination for crafters is to share their work with others but the pandemic has placed restriction on these opportunities. As a result, some makers have turned to showcasing their mini art in the great outdoors. This is a safe way for mini enthusiasts to enjoy these new works and offers those who have never been exposed to miniatures a glimpse at this art form that makes us all shiver with delight.

May Burnett is an arts educator from Dobbs Ferry, New York, a suburban enclave just north of New York City. Growing bored and restless during the pandemic lock down, she decided to create a series of whimsical mini art vignettes which provide commentary (and levity!) during the global crisis. She then affixed her work to a line of tree along a popular trail near her home.

May’s “Quaran-teeny” outdoor gallery features a series of assemblages created using a mix of photographs, foam core and scrapbooking materials. Her “Corona-Lisa,” inspired by DaVinci’s masterpiece, spurs on chuckles while encouraging viewers not only to socially distance when viewing the art, but to wear a mask and keep surfaces around them virus free! More of May’s work can be found at http://www.may-burnett.com/

Canadian-based artist Street Art Miniaturist (she goes anonymously by “SAM”), sculpts realistic polymer clay miniature foods including tiny hamburgers, frozen popsicles and ripened and peeled bananas. She showcases her (really tiny!) miniatures in various spots along streets in the Ottawa neighborhoods where she lives. Part of the appeal of her exhibits is the discovery process not only to those viewers who “stumble” upon her work (if they are lucky) but to her followers on social media who she encourages to go out and find her hidden, in-plain-sight, treasures. SAM can be found on Instagram at @streetartminiatures

Stacy Milrany, a Seattle-based artist, created the Free Little Art Gallery (FLAG) on a street near her home in Washington State late in 2020. Her concept became a viral sensation when she started what she calls her “public art experiment,” encouraging passer-bys to look at the art, leave a tiny treasure or take a tiny treasure from the 18” x 16” x 9” gallery built, with the help of a friend, to showcase inch-scaled paintings, sculpture and 3D printed figures. The concept was created to “to shed a little light, levity and beauty on a heavy world and catastrophic year” as described on her website www.milrany.com.

Although the global pandemic has been devastating (and continues to be) for so many of us, we can see a mini silver lining. Mini makers are evolving and are encouraged to find creative ways to showcase their miniatures in unexpected places. We now have access to a new, broad array of viewers who may never have known about our awesome little world and may even consider trying their hand at creating new mini treasures of their own!

This is a reprint of my feature in the March 2021 Issue of DollsHouse and Miniature Scene Magazine. Check out this magazine for the latest in happenings in the mini world!

The DollsHouse Whisperer

I’m a miniatures empath; Some may call me a dollhouse whisper. I’m able to guide, manage and calm collectors and their families once the important decision has been made to sell a treasured collection. I also connect collections with collectors to ensure that a prized assortment of miniatures find a “happy new home” where they can delight and be fully appreciated while honoring the memories the original owners.

Miniatures are so often misunderstood and dismissed as “toys” or mere “playthings” and sellers want to ensure that their estates are handled with the proper care and respect they deserve. Through the process of learning about the collectors and their collections, I find out about their specific passions, their favorite artists and where they made their discoveries. I ask questions and create an emotional connection while developing strong relationships with my clients, building trust and providing comfort in knowing that their collections will end in the right hands.

A few years ago, I worked with the family of a miniature collector. I learned that the collector was born in Philadelphia, was the wife of a prominent businessman and that she spent over 50 years putting together her collection. I discovered that a portion of her collection was gifted and exhibited in an East Coast museum and that it appeared on the cover of a miniatures magazine. It was terrific to meet with the granddaughter and great granddaughter to review the collection and talk about bringing it to market. They were excited to know that I would care for it as much for it as their grandmother did.

The balance of the collection consisted of, among other objects, miniature metal, pottery, flowers, and a pair of oversized, hand-crafted, antique hardwood secretaries. Through research, I found the original gallery in New York City which handled the sale of the piece and discovered that it was quite a rare object. When I began the auction, I connected with a buyer who had been looking for a similar piece for a long time and was thrilled when she discovered one had existed. She was overjoyed as the winning bidder!

More recently I connected with a woman who was handling the estate of her sister who had passed several years ago. Her sister was an avid collector with a passion for food miniatures and had commissioned and purchased an extensive assortment of fine scaled polymer clay bakery and confectionary pieces.

This included individual cakes and cookies as well as vignettes overflowing with scrumptious treasures created by artists like Mary Broaddus and Kim Saulter. My client expressed how delighted she was that her sister’s collection would be treasured, cared for and loved as much as her sister loved them. I’m still working on finding new homes for this wonderful collection!

I do love the miniatures world but what I think I love most is how it can bring people together through a shared love of tiny objects and respect for the craft.

This is a reprint of my feature in the March 2021 issue of Dollshouse and Miniature Scene magazine. Take a look at this magazine for the latest happenings in the mini iworld.