{"id":893,"date":"2014-09-17T14:11:56","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T13:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janelaverick.com\/?p=893"},"modified":"2014-09-17T14:15:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T13:15:22","slug":"midweek-miniatura-cause-im-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.janelaverick.com\/?p=893","title":{"rendered":"Midweek Miniatura, ’cause I’m happy."},"content":{"rendered":"

Well who would credit it?  It is the middle of the week and this is all about Miniatura, specifically the new exhibitors.<\/font><\/p>\n

I have been writing about Miniatura exhibitors as they make their debut for many years, for many reasons.  When I was writing for magazines, they were very keen to scoop anyone else and produce new news as often as possible.  I quickly discovered that all new exhibitors are so thinly strung that they vibrate all over the place at the lightest touch, some even explode.  I nearly caused nervous breakdowns with such searching questions as \u2018What is your name?\u2019 or \u2018How long have you been doing this?\u2019<\/font><\/p>\n

The thing about Miniatura is that it is not just the world\u2019s best loved miniatures show, it has also been described to me, by new exhibitors, as: The Holy Grail, A Lifetime Achievement, The Only Place You Want To Be, Your Main Goal, The Summit For A Miniaturist.  I myself have called it Miniverse Central on more than one occasion in more than one magazine.<\/font><\/p>\n

So there\u2019s a lot hanging on the first occasion an artist exhibits there.  People get very nervous.  Two dreadful things can happen.  The first is that everyone takes notice of them and they acquire terrifying overnight fame and get asked to do things they haven\u2019t even thought of yet, the second is that no one notices them at all and they just want to go and chuck themselves under the nearest bus.  It has been known for exhibitors to come from the other side of the planet and sell nothing much, even though they, like all the exhibitors, have had to pass the Miniatura test and submit work to ensure it reaches exacting Miniatura standards.  Why does this happen?<\/font><\/p>\n

Visitors develop favourites.  You can watch them coming in the front door and heading for their favourite exhibitor like a child at Christmas making a beeline for the uncle who does silly voices and is prepared to play in the Wendy house.  Miniaturists are the family you choose rather than the one you get given, it is of the utmost importance to catch up with the people you love and, of course, you don\u2019t love the new people yet.<\/font><\/p>\n

So, for years I used to try to interview all the new exhibitors and wrest some of their work from them and take it to be photographed and make sure I got their contact details so that there was a little bit about everyone in a magazine some months later, so that no one was transfixed in a searchlight and no one got forgotten.  One memorable weekend I interviewed 27 new exhibitors, four of them in languages I didn\u2019t speak and got pictures of everything and ran my own stand.  Looking back, I don\u2019t know how I did it either, though I once had Joyce Dean follow me for an entire show (she was my editor at the time) just to see how I did do it.  I used to lose about 4 pounds in weight over the weekend and, as I walked miles in high heels on a hard surface, it used to take three days afterwards for the balls of my feet to go from spherical to flat again.<\/font><\/p>\n

But that still wasn\u2019t good enough.  Publicity six months after the show is nice but not helpful at the time.  And for lo!  I had a good idea and started JaneLaverick.com so I could tell you about the show just before the show when it helps everyone the most.<\/font><\/p>\n

This show the newcomers are Chriserminiaturas who have come from Spain with some lovely antique-looking books, some with impressively tooled covers.  One of the delights of Spanish miniatures has been the inclusion of traditional leather working skills, developed over hundreds of years, into the hobby.  You\u2019ll find the books on stand D2.  All the way from Australia come Jarrah Miniatures to stand D7 with some absolutely cracking furniture.  If you are an enthusiastic Internet searcher for all things miniature I am sure that it has not escaped your notice that  a brand new tradition of excellence in miniature furniture making has been evolving for a few years Down Under.  Well worth a look and please say G\u2019Day to exhibitors who have come half way round the world to see us, strewth, cobber, you can\u2019t come any further, after that you\u2019re going back!<\/font><\/p>\n

Germany has a long been a bastion of all things miniature, you will find elegant wicker furniture and other delights on E6 at Puppensteubchen, who will be speaking to you in English but probably thinking in German, especially when they get tired.  Not all the new exhibitors hail from overseas, there\u2019s one from actual England.  You\u2019ll find Emma Jane Miniatures on D7 with a fetching range of pretty nursery items.  <\/font><\/p>\n

If you are very alert you may have noticed that the newcomers are all grouped on islands D and E.  Joining them on E3 is an amateur exhibitor who has come to share some medieval magic which looks, in my small pictures of it, to be that absolute rarity, a finished dolls\u2019 house.  No?  Yes!  Maybe.  Go and ask Doug Somerfield all about it yourself.  Can you imagine the honour?  Exhibiting your dolls\u2019 house at the best show in the world?  Take photographs for the great great grandchildren, just so you can say: I was there and so was the house you have inherited!<\/font><\/p>\n

Doug and everyone else will be and so will I and we\u2019ll all see you there, this weekend.  Oh it\u2019s so exciting!  (You would think after quarter of a century of going there twice a year the excitement would have worn off a bit but it never has.  I\u2019ve had some awful Christmases but I\u2019ve always found hundreds of things to love about every single Miniatura.  It\u2019s the centre of the Miniverse, you know, round which the rest of the year revolves.)<\/font><\/p>\n

See you there!  (Ticket hotline 0121 767 4100, or pay at the door on Sunday only<\/em> Hall 11 NEC Birmingham.)<\/font><\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/font><\/p>\n

JaneLaverick.com \u2013 Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof (or indeed a whole house).<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well who would credit it?  It is the middle of the week and this is all about Miniatura, specifically the new exhibitors. I have been writing about Miniatura exhibitors as they make their debut for many years, for many reasons.  … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[625],"class_list":["post-893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miniatura","tag-miniatura-autumn-2014"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t