Daily Mini Interview: Miniatures by Nancy Summers

Miniatures by Nancy Summers

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How did you get started in miniatures? 

yhst-47023519779078_2231_3875877I had a dollhouse when I was little. Early on, I was a dollmaker and made little dolls for the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home & Museum in Greenfield, Indiana. I worked on little orphan Annies.

A customer bought a shadowbox and inquired about a miniaturist who could furnish it. So I made a kitchen for this woman and that was it. After that, I was hooked. My husband gave me an architect’s ruler (1 inch is 1 foot) and I began selling dolls at arts and crafts shows in Indiana. Several women from a miniature shop in Ohio came through one show and bought everything I had. They ordered more for a show in Sandusky, and there was a line of guests waiting to view the works on display.guilded-louis-xv-love-seat-4

Daily Mini Interview: Steve Casino, Painter Of Nuts

Steve Casino, Painter Of Nuts

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How did you first get started making portraits out of peanuts?
My first peanut portrait was of myself. It was originally a joke. As a cartoonist, I made quick sketches of myself and coworkers on peanuts.

bb4Why peanuts? Why miniature portraits?
Peanuts are my favorite snack. But it’s also fun because it uses all of the skills I’ve acquired through life and work experience. Nothing wasted.

Feel Big Live Small Exhibition at apexart

Feel Big Live Small
organized by Elan Smithee
with an essay by Rachel Nuwer
on view at apexart
now through Saturday, May 17
291 Church Street, New York, NY

A little (mini) excerpt from the press release:

Dioramas and miniatures are used in the field of architecture to preview a vision, in cinema to create a fabricated world, and in workshops as a means for children to process traumatic events. 

Feel Big Live Small explores dioramas and miniatures as well as our fascination with all things small, both as a technical feat and a psychological relationship.