Miniatura

I’m Kelly Harris and I create miniature polymer clay foods in my studio-by-the-sea here in beautiful Brighton, UK. I started crafting miniature foods from polymer clay when I was 9 years old. (I seem to remember a lot of sushi was created in those days.) I eventually forgot all about polymer clay but those fine sculpting and creativity skills helped me to later go on to art school then culinary college and later become an award winning pastry chef in Canada in the early 2000’s.

Fast forward to 2019 when I purchased some polymer clay on a whim and sculpted a few baguettes and loaves of sourdough rye bread. It was good timing, because the following year I had a lot of time to devote to developing and improving my craft during my time at home during lockdown. In 2021 I opened an Etsy store to sell the odd miniature I would make, but it wasn’t until the very end of 2022 that I would start making miniatures full time.

I’m creative, but not particularly fanciful, so my favourite foods to make are always based on real foods that have interesting textures, viscosities and opacities to imitate in miniature. I like messy foods – melty, gooey, grilled, caramelised, half-eaten, home-cooked or even slightly burned. For me, the closer I achieve a sense of realism, the more joy I experience from the miniature. I always have to work from a real piece of food or at the very least a photograph. I’m a pretty big foodie, so the inspiration for me is really quite endless.

As an artisan I’m not a speedy worker and will take all the time required to make a miniature piece. This means I might only make a few pieces a day – or sometimes even a single piece will take me all day. I’m okay with that because I need to know that each piece that I have produced is to the best of my abilities and I am always stretching myself to learn new skills and techniques to continually improve my work.

I’m passionate about making miniatures, but also of the miniature community as a whole, so in 2023 I launched the first UK Miniature Artisan Advent Calendar. I felt that there wasn’t the sort of Advent Calendar out there on the market that I really wanted for myself. So I made one. I contacted a number of British artisan miniature makers and together we designed a collection of 24 handmade 12th scale dollhouse miniatures which were then packaged, curated, marketed and sold by myself in a luxury advent calendar. Something to bring daily moments of joy and delight throughout the month of December to discerning miniature collectors. Because these are all handmade items (many of them are exclusives for the calendar) the calendars are very limited edition each year and need to be registered for as early as possible in the year. Most of the calendars go to international customers, but I have reserved a small number of calendars to bring with me to Miniatura.