Miniature Enthusiasts of Toronto

Suzan Kruger was a member of MET more than 20 years ago. She sold her charming wooden toys and furnishings at North American shows throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Some club members recall her teaching a class in the early 80’s on how to make the little clown bead toy that you’ll see here in the video. Suzan created her tiny automatons by hand from wood, which she then hand-painted and animated with impossibly thin wires. Their whimsical folk-art look makes them instantly recognizable and although Suzan is no longer with us, we are lucky to have a few of her pieces to share with you.

Glen Anderson of Keenderson Miniatures claims that problem-solving keeps him engaged in creating his detailed, Mid-Century Modern and Arts & Crafts minis. He’ll see a gorgeous full-sized piece and instantly start calculating how to reproduce it. Working primarily in cherry wood and cutting almost everything by hand Glen finds that miniatures are a perfect fit for his ADHD, allowing him to jump from challenge to challenge while working at full speed all the time. Of course, the pieces are designed to function too. The loom actually works, cabinet drawers open, and each guitar has been strung with real wire. Just take a look at the dove-tail joints on his Gio Ponti table and remember this is all 1:12 scale!

25 years ago, Glen uncovered a volume on miniature furniture in a used bookstore in Barrie, Ontario. Amazed by the work he saw from mini Artisan John Ottewell, Glen travelled to the Toronto MET Show to see his furniture in person. Now he’s hooked and has since branched out into 3-D printing, toys, and accessories for his mini worlds. He says he owes it all to wife and partner-in-crime Nancy Keech, who manages the business-end of Keenderson Miniatures, freeing him up to envision the next mini adventure. Eames chairs anyone?

@keendersonminiatures, Shopify

Karl Blindheim of Bjarnesonn’s has been a friendly feature on the Canadian mini scene for decades, and you may recognize him from the Tom Bishop show in Chicago, the Kensington Dollhouse show and, of course, Toronto’s MET Show.

Each of Karl’s figures is unique and entirely hand-crafted without molds of any kind. Whether he’s building dogs, cats, plants or more exotic animals it is a distinct pleasure to watch him work during the METminis meetings.

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Judith Blondell is known for excellence in everything from footwear to furniture. Judith designs and produces each delicious piece from scratch and this includes hand-carving the intricate decorative details on her wooden furniture and lovingly upholstering them in period-appropriate materials.

Judith’s footwear is true to life, with shoes made of leather or cloth and each pair containing a right and left foot. Judith’s whimsical nature can be seen here in pieces like the Viking helmet and Pirate’s ensemble.

Janice Crawley’s exceptional ceramics are always popular at the annual MET Show & Sale! Her charming, hand-sculpted, hand-painted pieces depict everything from delicate cups and saucers to jointed porcelain dolls. Janice works predominantly in 1:12 scale in her Winnipeg studio and finds that a good magnifier is her most essential tool.

Jacey Culham and Francis Culham were the talented couple behind Canada’s Culham Studios. After graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Jacey and Francis produced their wonderful pieces through the 80’s, 90’s, 00’s and 10’s.

Jacey was a master in polymer clay, and she created perfectly proportioned and tinted food for every mini occasion. Francis’ work features original metal casting of animals, birds, and other objects, all meticulously hand painted. Many are posed on aged furniture of his own design.

Kathi Kuti’s one-of-a-kind pieces are easily identifiable as hers, which she feels is the secret to any artist’s success. “Be unique” she says, “and then the people who like your work will always come to you”. This philosophy has served Kathi well, and after over 30 years of miniature-making she’s developed an avid fan base for her colourful, joyful figures.

Kathi works in polymer clay and with a variety of specialty fabrics, some of which she hand-paints and all of which are hand-stitched. Asked if she plans her work in advance she quickly replied “Oh, no!”. She says that each figure tells her what it wants to be and the results are always a surprise.

@kathikutidesigns

Fay Leisorek’s  authentically gorgeous flowers are a celebration of colour. All are created from paper and her own designs. She was bitten by the flower bug at the age of eight, when her grandmother in Mexico taught her to make posies from bread dough. Her process has evolved considerably since then and she was awarded IGMA Artisan status for flowers in 1990.

Fay also sells miniatures under ‘Fay-vourite Crafts & Miniatures Co.’ and has been a regular at the annual MET show since the early ‘80’s.

@fayleisorek

Martha McLean designs, cuts and arranges her beautiful florals, made from crepe and other papers. For a perfect finishing touch, they are placed in specialty containers of silver, glass and porcelain – some of which are produced just for her.

Marie-Luce Pelletier is a celebrated Canadian ceramicist. She hails from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec and has spent the last few decades creating her miniature pottery from a studio in Thornhill, just north of Toronto.

Her pieces are all thrown on a wheel, hand-painted and glazed, and carry the distinctive ‘ML’ maker’s mark. Deceptively simple in form, they are universally charming and perfectly constructed, right down to the amphoras’ tiny handles and the impossibly wee lids on the urns. Now retired, Marie-Luce’s pieces come up on the secondary market from time to time, and can be found in the homes of many fine miniature collectors.

Caraline Stanley’s charming cushions are all her own designs and are sewn in 30, 40 and even 50-count versions with DMC embroidery floss on silk mesh. For the uninitiated, 40-count means a 3 cm cushion contains over 2,500 stitches! When asked how long it takes to complete each one, she answered: “I don’t know. I love doing them and I’m always just counting until I finish each one off!”.

Many of her cushion designs are available in kits that are very popular with her fans and the exquisite rugs you see are designs from Frank Cooper’s “Oriental Rugs in Miniature” book.

Robert Street’s work has delighted miniaturists since he started producing his distinctive, colourful, pieces in the 80’s and 90’s. Robert hand-made everything from recipe boxes with tiny cards to full sized jukeboxes and radios, finishing them with his signature high-gloss Humbrol model paints.