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Arts & Entertainment

In A Lilliputian World

A local miniaturist club meets to create tiny worlds.

An artist created a classic scene of Washington D.C., complete with monuments, cherry blossoms and the First Couple, Barack and Michelle Obama. All of these components fit inside one teacup.

Earlier this month, a group of miniature enthusiasts gathered at John Marshall Library to work on their miniatures. The Mount Vernon Club meets on the third Saturday of the month to create tiny worlds.

In transparent acrylic boxes small worlds in 1-inch scale or half-inch scale (one inch to one foot; half inch to one foot) were on display. The miniature artworks on display were mostly houses, reproduced to the last detail, accommodating not only people but dishes and cutlery, pictures on walls and house plants.

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More than one house featured a hutch which itself contained many even smaller items. Laurie Sisson, club president, explained that the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts held a daylong event last year where everyone made hutches.

Jane Schwarz has enjoyed working with miniatures for decades.  

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“Most of us have been doing this for a long time. I started ages and ages ago and I’m in my seventies. I have kept everything I’ve ever made,” said Schwarz. “There is something about it. You get very excited about what you’ve made. It is like somebody who is an artist. Most people don’t think we are artists. They say, you play with dolls?”

This club is part of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (NAME), which holds an annual national convention. The 2011 NAME convention will be hosted in Cleveland, Ohio.

At the end of the meeting, Sisson announced a challenge for the next meeting.  Containers of pistachio nuts sat on the tables. Members were told to enjoy eating the nuts but to save the shells and come back next month with a miniature in which the pistachio shells were put to use.

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