2018 Flower Show Miniatures

March 10, 2018 by Dr. K ♥ 10 Comments

Since it looks like no one else is writing about the Miniature Settings at the Philadelphia Flower Show for this year (or any year), I will give my view of the exhibits as well as present the info cards and images for each exhibit. Hopefully someone else will give a different perspective on the Miniature Settings but the past history of the Miniature Settings as the premiere exhibit of miniatures has been abandoned in my opinion. There is no sense that the miniature world needs to know about these exhibits even as miniatures are making a big showing in movies, advertising, and art.

Some general comments first.

There is still a disconcerting mix of high-end miniature artisans who have made exquisite exhibits and low-end enthusiasts and newcomers who have not mastered the concept of the Miniature Settings. Perhaps the two different sections of Miniature Settings (Class 135 and Class 136) should be divided between high quality miniaturists who are juried to get into their section, and newcomers and hobbyists who want to play around with the idea of making a diorama. As it is now, the Miniature Settings are presenting a very bad window into this wonderful expressive form. To highlight quality, you could make one of the classes an invitational to Best of Show and Blue Ribbon winners from the past. That would be an amazing set of miniatures.
The theme for both classes (135 and 136) was songs about water. That resulted in some duplication (despite the fact that the rules require no duplication; the chair is supposed to work with the exhibitors on this). Usually the two classes have a different take on the theme but not this year. Many of the songs chosen were really old-fashioned and there are better songs, like those suggested on this list. Too bad a better theme was not negotiated. I could think of all sorts of better themes: water mythology, water literature (Moby Dick, Old Man and the Sea, anyone?), water gardens in history, etc.
Despite the fact that maintaining the proper scale of the miniatures and the plant materials is supposed to make a big difference in the scoring of the exhibits, many of the exhibits used oddball and mixed scaling. The sense of realism in miniature, or believable fantasy, was lost in many cases as a result. Again, newcomers should at least be taught about scale and why it matters.
The Flower Show has redesigned the exhibit area for the Miniature Settings. They are now housed in light colored wood displays. The ideal way to display the miniatures is with a dark exterior, not a light one. At least they got rid of the hideous green paint. But also missing is the interior space that used to serve as a storage room for extra plants and tools, and a meeting place for the miniaturists. No more meetings of the miniature anarchists, I guess.

Okay, on to the show. The two first place winners were Deb and Jim Mackie for “Call of the Siren,” and Midge Ingersoll for “Dock of the Bay.” The Mackies won Best in Show.

Mackie info — As usual, the judge’s comments are not very helpful

Mackie2 — One of Deb Mackie’s fine figurines and watery lighting

Mackie detail — Excellent use of succulents as underwater plants

Exterior view: the lighting outside was terrible in the Convention Center and reflections on the windows made everything hard to see.

Details of the dock: everything perfectly scaled with plants that enhanced the scene.

The other noteworthy exhibit is the one by Nancy Grube. She always makes a Miniature Setting that is wonderfully detailed and perfectly scaled with no jarring or out-of-place elements.

Excellent use of trees to form a believable background. Only wish the mill was place a bit more to the left so it was not in the middle.

Lots of fun details, all perfectly scaled.

Other entries:

The background looks like the water is in the sky.

A great song but this scene never came to mind when we danced to this 1982 hit.

Unfortunate use of figures. Unless you have figures that are to scale and naturalistic, they tend to look odd.

The two “Octopus’s Garden”:

Other exhibits:

Some nice miniatures but too far back to see.

The shack on the right cut off the view too much. Too bad it is not in the back because it is nicely constructed.

Oh to see a realistic Gene Kelly figure instead. These cartoonish figures never make sense to me. The judge calls it a “folk art interpretation” but not sure the style matches the song and the multiple scales in this work are also odd.

I agree with the judge that the net is too dominant.

The Fortuna temple becomes the focus instead of the fountain.

There are so many good ways to create miniature water that could have benefitted this fountain.

It would be nice if the leadership of Miniature Settings helped groups like this create miniatures which are a great activity.

Revisiting: The Life and Death of the Philadelphia Flower Show Miniature Settings

March 16, 2017 by Dr. K ♥ 17 Comments

This blog was first published in the spring of 2017.

This is the most difficult post I have ever written on this blog because it involves the deterioration of a miniature exhibition opportunity that I was involved in for years. As many of you know, this blog was started as a way to share the Miniature Settings exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. From 2011 to 2015, this blog highlighted not just the exhibits themselves but also shared techniques, provided instructional lessons, celebrated the accomplishments of the exhibitors, created a miniature plant database, and gave examples of other forms of miniatures and miniature artists as a way to inspire exhibitors in the Miniature Settings group at the Flower Show. It also provided documentation of each entry in the exhibit, a documentation that has been abandoned by the current organizers of the Miniature Settings so now you can’t see all the entries unless you go to the show.

As many of you also know, my involvement with the Flower Show ended two years ago when I was supposed to become chair (the person who for the past few years has selected and nurtured the exhibitors) but I resigned because the Flower Show administrators decided to open up the Miniature Setting to anyone, despite a lack of experience in creating miniatures and a miniature garden, who could get their entry postmarked before other applicants. This was not an act of snobbery on my part: it was a way to protest the loss of the most important and most viewed exhibit of miniatures and miniature gardening in the country.

No one has documented the 2016 show and I am not going to document the 2017 show here. What I want to do is explain what has happened to this once premiere exhibit. I will use entries from the current show and contrast them with entries from previous shows. None of these works are mine and I will not identify any of the artists by name.

Is this rude? Maybe, but I think the current track of the Miniature Settings is a great insult to the artists who for at least the past 35 years have created serious, detailed, fascinating, and careful work. I hope the incoming Chair and vice-Chair take their jobs of vetting and, more importantly, nurturing the incoming class of exhibitors. I encourage all serious miniaturists to apply now to the 2018 show even if the first-come-first-served rule is still in effect: they can’t ignore quality miniature work forever. You can apply by calling Flower Show staff and asking for an application at: 215-988-8826. Even if you don’t get in, we need to let them know we will not let this exhibit of miniatures deteriorate further or even disappear altogether.

Scale is the most important aspect of creating a coherent and compelling Miniature Setting. This involves scale of the materials as well as all the other components like props and furniture. In the Flower Show, it also involves selecting correctly scaled plants.

Here is an example of a carefully scaled exhibit with all the elements, including the building materials, properly scaled:

In 2017, most of the exhibits did not utilize a carefully executed scale in plants, accessories, or materials. This is usually a matter of experience and could be easily learned:

Including figures is always problematic in the Miniature Setting and while some exhibits require the figures, they also need to be scaled and created with care, including their hair and clothing. Here is an example of a perfect use of a figure. All the materials, including the clothing and hair, are perfectly scaled:

In 2017, there were few figures but they were not as careful. Again, this is a matter of looking at what has to be done to a figure to make it either realistic or at least match the aesthetic of the setting:

Lighting can make or break an exhibit and uniform harsh lighting can be as problematic as too dark a scene. An otherwise interesting and well-scaled exhibit can be lost to poor lighting. A fine example of good lighting is one that included a variety of lighting techniques:

In an otherwise nicely done 2017 exhibit, the very low lighting takes away from this scene. A balance of indoor lighting with the interesting shelving lighting would have made the interior easier to see (it was even darker than this photo shows):

The difficulties of miniature construction are highlighted by both good and less well-executed examples. In a fine example, the edges of buildings and the meeting points of unlike materials do not draw your attention away from the overall scene:

Looking carefully at a 2017 entry reveals unfinished edges and mismatched materials:

The overall message here is that the Miniature Settings has featured over the years some of the best miniature and miniature gardening work in the country. Now it does not and as a platform for promoting miniatures as a valid and exciting art form, it falls short. The show needs to reinvigorate the model of consulting with its exhibitors during the construction process, providing assistance and encouragement to follow the criteria set out in the judging rules. It also needs to make the entrance into the Miniature Setting competitive, with selection by quality and not by how fast you can run to the post office or get a paper entry into the Flower Show office (how about an online entry form, folks, with a well publicized deadline).

Our History, Part 1

January 8, 2014 by Dr. K ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I have been wanting to start a series of blogs about the history of Miniature Settings at the Philadelphia Flower Show. I have met some of the previous year’s entrants and have received some photos of our past displays. I still plan to collect photos from every year but until this year’s show is done, I don’t have a lot of spare time to research the rest of our history. But I just received this wonderful article from Ron Smith. It is a look at the 1994 show with a detailed explanation for the exhibits and the history of the displays. Take note, Flower Show planners: we “stole the show” 20 years ago, just like we do today!!!