This is “a big month for tiny things,” Kiana Simmons wrote on their Instagram. With miniature art workshops and galleries popping up all over Ottawa, the popularity of miniature art has almost superseded its size.
During the pandemic, Simmons said they found some leftover polymer clay and made a tomato, then carrots and potatoes, before finally questioning what to do with a bunch of mini vegetables.
“That’s when I started working on my first piece, which [was] a miniature farm stand,” they said.
Simmons said making a box of real vegetables look beautiful is fun, but on a smaller scale, it’s 10 times as fun.
“I don’t know what it is, but it just does something for the brain,” they said. “It really unlocks a part of your creative brain that feels really good.”
Following their involvement in the Ottawa improv community, Simmons said they realized anyone had the power to host a workshop, and decided to start teaching people how to make miniature art.
Simmons’ held their first workshop in Ottawa in February, and has since hosted nine workshops across Ottawa, Waterloo, Kitchener and Toronto, with more underway.
“Making miniatures at home by yourself is a little lonely, but teaching a workshop with 15 people is always really fun, and I continue to meet really wonderful people as I’m doing it,” Simmons said.
Jennifer Kelly, creator and curator of the Ottawa Miniature Gallery (OMG), is also a big believer in the miniature community’s ability to bring people together.
“They’re doing some pretty cool stuff with getting the [miniature] community more visibility,” Kelly said.
The OMG is an more-than six-foot tall, three-story structure with six rooms on each face. It’s also movable and features a rotating series of exhibits.
The OMG is currently on display at the Kanata Civic Art Gallery and will be travelling to the art supply store DeSerres in Bell’s Corners during November and December.
“My main mandate for it was that it would remove any elitism or pretentiousness from the traditional colonial gallery experience,” Kelly said.
While the project was funded by the City of Ottawa, Kelly now self-funds the OMG.
“It was supposed to be a temporary art installation. It wasn’t supposed to live on,” she said.
Kelly said she continues the OMG because of the diverse group of artists she’s met through it.
“The enthusiasm of others has really propelled me to keep going, so I plan to keep offering it to the community indefinitely,” she said. “I can see that people feel included and that is going to ripple into every other aspect of their lives and of my life.”
Many might wonder where miniature art can take artists, but Simmons has a goal in mind.
“I’ve been putting all of the money that I make from my miniature workshops aside to go to miniature guild school, which happens once a year,” they said.
Audrey Tripp, the school director of the International Guild of Miniature Artisans (IGMA), emphasized the importance of miniature art and its ability to stretch beyond borders.
“IGMA was formed to focus the attention on the fine art of miniatures, elevating it to museum quality,” she said.
Every year, the IGMA hosts a guild school for one week where artists can attend miniature art workshops from instructors and fellows of the guild.
Tripp said the “fellow” title — IGMA’s highest honour — is awarded to artisans whose work is the “epitome of excellence.”
“They’ve had their work judged to be at a certain level, or better than that level, and then they use their knowledge and their skills to offer classes to anybody that’s interested in learning,” she said.
For Simmons and Kelly, learning and enjoyment is at the core of making miniature art.
“If you shrink it down, it becomes approachable,” Kelly said. “It typically makes people smile.”
Featured image provided by Kianna Simmons via Instagram.
