Miniatura

My love for miniatures started with my grandad, who hand-built beautiful doll houses and intricate miniature furniture. Watching him create those small, magical details sparked a lifelong passion in me. I started decorating cakes my mum made as a child with fantastical scenes and progressed to polymer clay that I used to make mini creations for my friends in school. I have tried many other crafts over the years, but have always come back to making things with my hands from clay.

Nature has always been an inspiration for me. I grew up on an old farm with barns and fields to explore, long hours building tree houses and picking blackberries. My childhood was spent noticing the gentle changes in the seasons and observing the quiet pace of the wild. Books have also had a huge influence on me since childhood. I love losing myself in a beautiful fantasy world and going on magical journeys in the comfort of my own bedroom.    

A Whimsical Toadstool was born from that same spirit of wonder from my grandad’s work and childhood nostalgia that I try to capture in miniature form. I like to use as many natural or eco-friendly materials as possible. Most of which comes from the forest floor that I collect, such as twigs, moss, bark and most importantly, inspiration. My work sits somewhere in between real-life and fantasy, and I don’t stick strictly to scale, often just using my own imagination to create a feeling or aesthetic. I am also inspired by folklore and magic, so I often include this in my larger pieces but nature features in all my work. My hope is that my work resonates with people’s inner child and inspires a bit of whimsy.