Philadelphia Miniaturia 2013

If you have ever wondered why people are interested in collecting or making miniatures, you need go no further than the annual Philadelphia Miniaturia show to find your answer. At this show (and many of the other ones around the country) you can see wonderful artists and artisans who create stunning small-scale works.

Philadelphia Miniaturia is an excellent miniature show with wonderful dealers and a convenient location. I understand it used to actually be in Philadelphia (very close to my house) but now resides in Cherry Hill, NJ. There were four rooms of vendors and a special exhibits display (which I will discuss in a separate blog).

Here are some of the highlights for me. I am sure everyone attending has a different view of the show and I am only showing the things that caught my attention (and often my wallet!).

By the way, I was surprised at all the ¼” scale products available this year. It is a scale way too small for me (can’t see well enough to do it) but people tell me they like it because you can fit a lot of projects in your real house as opposed to 1″ scale which takes up a lot of space.

ShowFloor2013 — More vendors in the main room

The Flower Show miniaturists were well represented in the attendees with Pam , Nancy and Paul , Ron and Katy , Chris, Nancy, and me, all shopping about or browsing. Ronny Smith ran the Special Exhibits area and Deb Mackie had her own booth (White Horse Studio). I also ran into our friends from the New Jersey garden clubs that we met with last month.

DebMackieTable — I bought this great table and an extra Ouija board from Deb Mackie. She is best known for her unique dolls and figures.

Bear and Alisa Limvere showed their beautifully turned and carved 1″ scale wooden vases, bowls, plates, and pots at their Standing People Designs booth. I bought a beautiful carved vase from them.

Brian and Kathy Tepper showed “The Anthropologist Study” which is a finely detailed and crafted room box featuring miniatures for a very eclectic anthropologist, from a butterfly net and curio cabinet to dinosaur bones and a monkey. While not strictly matching the study of any real anthropologist (we don’t study dinosaurs or butterflies!) it is quite an impressive display.

Rik Pierce (whose workshop I had just finished) showed a Hobbit House that we all admired.

An artist whose work I had never seen before, Christina Goodman, made beautiful miniature paintings and jewelry. The photographs do not do her work justice so check out her website for more detailed views.

I bought cane from Ron Stetkewicz that I hope some day to use in the recreation of a scene from the 1941 film, The Wolf Man.

The Wolf Man (Larry Talbot) and Gwen Conliffe discuss walking sticks in her antique shop.

I was delighted to meet José Maria Bolio from Mexico whose online shop (ulusminiatures.com) I have long admired. I purchased these perfect medical and dental instruments from him simply because they were so amazing.

Lucy Iducovich once again had antique embroidery pieces and I purchased these.

LucyIducovich-antiqueembrodery — Lucy Iducovich embroideries. She also sells high quality kits for doing contemporary embroidery. I used one of her antique purses in my Hawaiian Museum murder scene as one of the clues left behind.

I love miniature fabrics and Jo Anne Roberts always has a large selection of fabrics, laces, and trims that are hard to resist.

I am always amazed at the variety of weaving by Bonni Backe at her “Weevings” booth and I purchased two of these.

There were many more treasures but the best find was this red sweater that I have been searching for for nearly a year. It will be Annie Hayworth’s sweater in my scene from The Birds for the 2014 Philadelphia Flower Show. I found it at a booth called “Tiny Threads.”