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Our Little World of Details
By Deb Roberts
The world of miniatures is all about the details in the little worlds we create. We search for the perfect little touches that turn our dollhouses into miniature homes. It might be a vase so delicately shaped that it strikes a chord in your heart every time you see it. The carving on a chair leg or the subtle shades of color in a tiny rug, the expression on a wee kitten’s face or the perfect pattern on a set of dishes that brings out the color of the dining room drapes…..these are the things that are best seen thru the eyes of a miniaturist.
As miniaturists, we have a different way of looking at things. Other people see the world thru a wide lens but we look at everything thru a microscope. To others, a vase of flowers on a table is all one object; a single unit to be admired. But to a miniaturist, it’s a treasure trove of details! We see the rainbow prism of light reflected thru a drop of water on a rose petal or the myriad whirls and shapes caught up in the design painted on the vase. We see the pattern of veins on each leaf and the contrast of the rounded petals against the sharp thorns. We see the details and because we do, our perception of a beautiful image is magnified a thousand times.
We may be the luckiest people alive because we possess the ability to see the world as a collection of details. We look for the tiny things, therefore we never miss a thing in the big picture. The world is a fascinating kaleidoscope, constantly changing as we find more and more wondrous details to see.
Our fascination with details shows itself in everything we do, but best of all it makes our miniatures come to life. Sometimes it even blurs the line between real life and miniatures. For example, take a look at the inside of Linda’s Shabby Chic Tea House.
The colors and details in this room are breathtaking! Linda combines so many delightful textures and soft colors that it could take hours of studying these pictures to see it all. Her shabby chic color palette is perfect in every way and because of that attention to detail, it looks amazingly lifelike.
Linda shows us just how lifelike it really is in this next picture.
Take a moment to study the details of this room. At first glance one thinks that it must be a different angle of the same room pictured above. The china and lace and perfect attention to detail are every bit as gorgeous from this view point. Even the dollhouses fit into the décor and at first I was stunned at how wonderfully well the 1:144 dollhouse from last year’s Spring Fling contest fit into this dollhouse. Upon closer inspection, I was really amazed at what appeared to be a scratch built 1:144 version of this year’s contest house.
And then it hit me. Those are not 1:144 dollhouses. Those are 1:12 scale dollhouses displayed in a real room in Linda’s real home. In fact, the little Shabby Chic Tea Salon just to the left of the china hutch is the same dollhouse in the first pictures.
It was a jaw-dropping moment. I think that it personifies the concept of a miniaturist’s eye for detail being an inherent part of our personality. We see it in everything we look at and we incorporate that talent for detailing into everything we do, be it miniature or life size.
Karin gives us a peek thru the windows into her Full Moon saloon and suddenly we feel as if we’re 13 again, standing on the shoulders of a friend to get a glance into that forbidden territory.
If we were to go thru the front door of the pub, we’d feel the warmth of the fireplace, so warm that a witch has left her cloak hanging over the back of one of the chairs. You can almost hear the crackling of the fire and smell the sharp tang of beer in the air.
Over in the “Sprig of Holly” pub, havanaholly’s attention to detail shows us the working functionality in every room, including the washroom that doubles as storage for spare inventory. Holly’s knack for detailing includes adding years of wear and tear to the walls and floors and fixtures.
Dawn gives us passerby a delightful glimpse into her tea room thru this beautiful window display. We just can’t resist the urge to peek thru windows, can we? Dawn has put so much detail into her tea shop that even the view from outside dazzles the eye with so many delightful things to see.
Over in JoMed’s Garfield, a modern family room is oh so modern with its crisp, clean lines. Here the details are focused on the objects of daily life…..the television and magazines, telephones and remote controls. All the objects that we see in our daily life are a part of this tiny world as well. And those details make an exceptionally charming dollhouse!
In her Westville, LittleHouseFan has created an atmosphere of timeless elegance by combining classic fixtures with lifelike detailing. In the parlor, we can see hints of the china in the corner cabinet and the doilies placed over the chair arms with loving care. This scene is so lifelike that you can almost hear the ticking of the grandfather clock.
In the kitchen, it appears that the washing up has been interrupted. The dishrag hangs over the side of the sink and a couple of stray dishes remain on the table. While we can’t see the occupants of the house, we know they’re there because of those little details.
Those tiny signs of occupancy can be some of the most telling details of all. In Kitten’s Beacon Hill, we can only assume that whoever is working on the books would rather be fishing...
Or that the lady in marivigano’s dollhouse has been interrupted during her morning beauty routine. And since you’ve seen the toothbrushes hanging in the rack, do you automatically think that she has the same “get the kid’s off to school” interruptions that real life mothers have as well?
Even the chicken coop isn’t exempt from the details that tell the whole story. I think that all we need to do is see the surprised look on the chicken’s face to know that the raccoon wasn’t exactly invited to breakfast!
It’s all about the details. In our little world of details we can invoke senses of smells and tastes, images that offer poetic interpretation, and even emotions and memories with just a few tiny, well placed items. That’s truly an art form.
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