Artist Spotlight: Hernán Buljevich

One of the most talented artisans working in miniatures today is Hernán Buljevich. A native of Argentina, Mr. Buljevich uses mixed mediums to create highly detailed landmark pub/bars and restaurants in miniature. His fascination with the discipline started when making scale models in college while studying for his degree in architecture.

Hernán has been perfecting his craft over the past 15 years, working with multiple materials, including repurposed/recycled wood, plastic and metals. As an "old school" architect, he rarely uses a computer, choosing to instead convert photos of a piece he is doing to hand drawn blueprints. He strives not only to merely create the perfect scale replica of a structure but to capture the true essence of that structure –its charm and its and soul –in order to transport the viewer to that space.

Hernán's newest works will be featured at the D. Thomas Fine Miniatures Gallery as part of the RiverArts Studio Tour on April 25th & 26th. This is one of the most anticipated events in the Lower Hudson Valley, where the shop is located, and features artists in the Hudson Rivertowns who will open their studios to the public and exhibit a wide range of media. This will be the first time Hernán will be showing his work in the United States, after exclusive engagements in Europe.

D. Thomas Fine Miniatures will host an Open House Artist Reception at the shop on Saturday, April 25th (7-9pm) to celebrate the new exhibit.

On view through Memorial Day 2015. For more information call 914-231-9871. #obeytheminiature

Eloise Kruger Collection

Eloise Kruger was a prolific collector of miniatures. She was born in the 1930's and became an accomplished accountant during the wartime years.

She began collecting with her friends at an early age but became more serious as an adult, placing more thought around the pieces she acquired while paying careful attention to the historical, architectural and details of each design.

While she favored the Victorian and American Neoclassical periods, the breadth and depth of the almost 20,000 pieces in her collection included many other periods as well including mid-centrury modern, Early American and and Shaker.

In 1997, The Kruger Collection was created at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a gift from the Kruger Charitable Trust.

In addition to providing a showcase for the assorment, the Collection "collects, preserves, researches and interprets miniature furniture, accessories and other examples..." as a means to educate around the disciplines of interior design and architecture.

Her mid-century modern pieces included a gorgeous bright red/corderoy bench.

She had good taste.

#obeytheminiature

Miniatures & Gardening ... A Delightful Merge

A very popular subset in the miniatures world is scale gardens/conservatories. One of my all time favorite artitsts is Lady Jane who does absolutely stunning garden scenes. Funny, the same holds true for the category of Gardening (full size!) and interest in creating real gardens and scenes in miniature using live plants and flowers.

Each year, the city of Philadelphia host the world’s oldest and largest indoor flower show presented by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society. The PHS hosts over 265,000 horticultural and flower enthusiasts and features large scale gardens ranging from elaborate landscaped displays to garden club and individual entries of a prized horticultural specimens The theme this year is “Celebrate the Movies,” with inspiration from the films of the Disney and Pixar studios.

The PHS also hosts “Miniature Settings,” a celebration of the miniature garden art form. Miniaturists, miniature gardeners and other miniature aficianados submit miniature setting based on the show’s overall theme which will be judged for miniature craftsmanship, horticulture (sizing, grooming) design synthesis and distinction. Each miniature scene is placed in the Miniature Display Wall to be viewed by thousands of admirers throughout show.

This year I'm excited to be bringing the PHS experience to those who cannot attend! Join me live on the World Wide Web on Monday, March 2nd from 10am to 3pm when I'll be hosting and posting directly from the flower show. I'll be sending out live tweets, facebook posts and Instagramming directly from the venue and conducting interviews with event participants and artists (to be shared later in the week!)

See you there!