Here is a recap of some of the biggest stories and trends that hit the miniatures world in 2018.
Miniatures in the Mainstream
Fans of "Fixer Upper" were blown away by this "mom-made" dollhouse refurb inspired by the HGTV hit series starring Chip and Joanna Gaines. A version of this dollhouse made it into production just in time for Christmas available at Target!
New Books Featuring Miniatures
A collection of artisan miniatures are featured in Think Small by Eva Katz and The Book of Mini (available for pre-order) by Kate Unver (of Daily Mini fame!) made it to the market in 2018. Frank Kunert launched his own book featuring a series of his photographs of his miniatures.
The Creepy Dollhouse Trend Continues
Leah Yao (Fatal Potato) created a Memento Mori for the BadAss Miniatures exhibition at D. Thomas Fine Miniatures, Juli Steel's creepy Victorian dollhouse and Max Hooper Schneider put together an abandoned dollhouse for exhibition at "Tryouts for the Human Race" at the Jenny's gallery in Los Angeles.
Why Miniatures? Discuss.
The Guardian took on the growing popularity of miniatures (yay!) in "Small World: Why We Love Tiny Things" by Simon Garfield.
BadAss Miniatures
"Tiny art without boundaries" caused a little stir at our BadAss Miniatures exhibition in the gallery and featured quirky, defiant and slightly uncomfortable miniatures by over 30 artists including Devin Smith (Awesome, Thanks), Ann Marie Mathius and Kim Clough (Fairchild Art).
Ted Talks: Miniatures
Mohammed Alamedy, Bill Robertson (IGMA Artisan) and Mohamed Hafez (Mohamed Hafez Art) talk miniatures in Ted Talks presented over the past year.
D. Thomas Goes to Manhattan!
We went on a very special field trip to visit Gulliver's Gate, the miniatures attraction in Times Square, New York City which appeals to miniatures enthusiasts and just about everyone else!
Main Stream Media:
Spotlight on Miniaturists
Several miniaturists were profiled in main stream media including June Clinkscales from Miniatures by June (Tastemade), Amanda Kelly/Panda Miniatures (New York Post) and Chris Toledo (L.A. Times).
Miniatures in Film and Television
It was a banner year for miniatures in film and television. HBO's Sharp Objects and Hereditary with Toni Collette both featured dollhouses as central to their themes and The Miniaturist (PBS/BBC) brought Jesse Burton's popular novel to life in as a series.
Gallery and Museum Shows
Works by Susan Leopold were featured at the Elizabeth Harris Gallery in New Y0rk City, MOMA exhibited Bodys Isek Kingelez in "City Dreams" and Thomas Doyle showed work at the Bruce Museum's Downsized Small Scale Sculpture (Greenwich CT).
Team Nix + Gerber presented mega-sized photographs of their miniatures at a number of galleries across the United States in "Empire" and Issac Cordal was part of an artist residency sharing work in an abandoned convent in Spain.
D. Thomas Fine Miniatures + SquintBox Miniatures
In addition to our new seasonal SquintBox miniatures offering, we launched SquintBox MiniMerch, a line of (people sized!) lifestyle products (wearables, decor and more!) to give miniacs a new way to express their love of minis. We also partnered with talented miniaturists to fill Nybelwyck Hall, the mini manse at the Hudson River Museum and held our first online auction and started selling on Invaluable!
Miniatures Help Promote
We companies like Sofi, Apple and New York Lottery featured miniatures to help launch and promote their products in 2018.
Chaotic and Diminutive Disorder
Muji Kojima replicated the sad spaces of the departed a mini hoarder miniature, Amanda Kelly's (Panda Miniatures) "Her Bed" and Corrine Tryon's Tiny Crash were filled with discordance and disorganization in 1/12 scale.
Surprise Use of Miniatures
Zombie Peepshow's fashionable pair of wedges filled with miniatures, Jill Orlov's full-sized bar cart with a miniature bar set into the piece and Brooke Weston's (repurposed) taxidermy filled with miniatures scenes introduced new and surprising ways of using miniatures.
We took some time to celebrate the miniaturists who make minis - if you have a photo of you and your minis, we invite you to send them in, we'd love to share in a future post!
It was an awesome year for miniatures as more and more people discover tiny and find ways to incorporate the small into their world. Thank you all for your support and love of these little things we love so much we look forward to an even more terrific 2019!
Happy New Year - we hope you enjoyed this special year end post. Be sure to share this with other miniacs and have them subscribe here so they never miss an update!
ABOUT D. THOMAS MINIATURES
D. Thomas Miniatures is a retail and gallery destination featuring top quality collectibles including 1/12th scale structure, furniture and accessories. The concept, designed to appeal to collectors, crafters and enthusiasts was created, in part, to raise awareness of miniatures as a decorative art form and to introduce the discipline not only to a new generation but to those who may just be discovering it! The gallery space showcases work in miniature by well-known artists from all over the world.
