Instagram identities: Smaller than life
Irina Borisova Moi Ali finds out about a psychologist who turned to miniatures for a creative outlet…
Find out about more about an Instagram sensation, Smaller than Life.
I warmed to Laura Reid the minute she said: “I always have a million creative projects on the go at one time... half-finished knitting projects, crochet and tapestry cushions all dotted around the house. I generally can’t sit still and am always ‘creating’.” I thought to myself yes, that’s me too. So many readers will identify with Laura’s approach to starting everything and finishing nothing!
Of course, it would be hugely unfair to suggest that Laura finishes nothing as she has actually finished so many wonderful little objects. Beautiful furniture, stained glass, fabrics and carpets... she is prolific – and talented with it!
Laura, from Farnham in Surrey, has an Instagram page, instagram.com/smaller. than.life . She has always loved small things, “I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by miniatures,” she told me. “I remember when I was very young being shown a real dolls house with lighting and lovely furniture. Not a plaything at all. I was absolutely mesmerised by it (and annoyed at being told not to touch!). Then I visited Queen Mary’s dolls house at Windsor Castle – quite a few times! I would stand there for ages, my face up to the glass, taking in every detail.”
Despite Laura’s love of all things small, it was only when she had a daughter of her own that she really got into making miniatures: “My daughter was about four.
Now she’s 18! I decided to make her a dolls house from a kit. When I gave it to her for her birthday, it was almost taller than she was! From that moment on, I was hooked. My daughter played with it until she was about
nine and it now belongs to my five-year-old niece who loves it to bits.”
She continued: “Why do I love miniatures? I always joke that working with small things makes me feel big and important! The truth is that recreating life in miniature has such a beautiful appeal. There is always a moment of realisation when someone looks at a piece and then comprehends that the scale is tiny. It's almost like the brain is expecting it to be real size and then has to take the leap.”
Laura rightly identified why so many of us build in miniature: “It might be quite common for miniaturists to build houses that they aspire to live in. In my case that is a small Tudor cottage with a wonky roof and a large stone fireplace. Also, a country kitchen with a big AGA oven and original stone tiled floor. I discovered I really like paper clay and was able to really go to town with the stone work on the outside. A few glasses of wine one night and the roof tiles were naturally wonky – perfect!”
I've noticed that quite a few miniaturists have a fascination with dark subject matters – graveyards, murder scenes and the like! Laura's current project is no different, as she explained: “I decided to go with a Victorian funeral home where the undertaker and his wife live upstairs. In the parlour, the deceased is laid out in his coffin, awaiting his family for the wake. My challenge with the dead guy was that, as with all purchased dolls, he had a huge smile on his face, which I managed to hide with a big beard!” She continued: “I am working on the street scene outside, where the funeral carriage and horses stand.”
She also made a rather macabre ‘book nook' – a re-creation of a Jack the Ripper alleyway in London: “It's very dark and spooky and the legs of the latest victim are just visible in the back. I'm still waiting to be allowed to invite someone to my house who might be perusing the book shelf and notice the magical scene nestled between the books – but after lockdown, I guess!”
“It’s not only taking pleasure in the finished piece, but having passion for the process and journey of making it.”
My favourites amongst Laura’s recreations are her Arts and Crafts movement pieces: “I have always had a passion for the Arts and Crafts movement from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. I realised that dolls house furniture for sale tends to be Tudor, Regency, traditional Victorian or modern. If I wanted Arts and Crafts pieces, I was going to have to make my own,” explained Laura. “Since then, I have really enjoyed creating Charles Rohlfs, Philip Webb, John Henry Dearle and William Morris inspired furniture, curtains, textiles and wallpaper.”
She continued: “I never started out with a desire to make my own furniture but it has become my main passion. Appropriately, the Arts and Crafts movement rejected massproduced objects and celebrated the joy and skill of making and creating.”
Her favourite pieces so far are her William Morris reclining chairs. “I don’t think I understood the challenge of making two items exactly the same,” she explained. “Also, the mechanism for the recline was more difficult than I anticipated. My second favourite is the Charles Rohlfs chair. It swivels 360 degrees and the leather seating pad was really fun.”
Laura continued: “I was really struggling to find well priced Arts and Crafts patterned wallpaper so I now print all my wallpaper myself, although it needs to be sealed with spray-on glue. Even though the sheets are
A4, it’s always easy to hide a seam with a few pictures or a piece of furniture! The Victoria and Albert Museum’s website is a wonderful resource, with free downloads of many perfectly coloured original patterns.”
Like many a miniaturist, Laura finds materials for her miniature projects all around her: “I find all sorts of tiny bits in hardware stores that I can re-use in my furniture pieces... nuts and bolts, tape, hooks and so on. On country walks I grab twigs (for tiny firewood) and moss (which makes amazing trees and bushes). I see miniature potential in so many things.”
I asked Laura about her creative workspace: “I was struggling to find space in the house. I took over the conservatory for about a year but, since it is open to the living room, all my mess was shockingly visible. Taking advantage of my husband’s carpentry skills, we built a garden office/art room. It is a gorgeous, warm, quiet, private place and I get to make all the mess I want. My commute is now ten steps from the house. I put on some music and can lose an entire day in there. I also get to look out of the big windows at the garden and all the weeding that needs to be done!”
Despite having nothing more than an A Level in art, Laura’s work is top quality but she still aspires to even better creations: “I’d really like to take some of the IGMA courses to take my skills up to the next level,” she said. “There’s so much to learn in miniatures. I’d like to try silversmithing or tiny glass blowing. Over the last few years, my husband has given me a complete set of miniature woodworking tools, a lathe, a scroll saw, a table saw and other tools. His hobby is lifesized woodworking and I have learned so much from watching his techniques and then adapting them for miniature.”
Looking to the future, Laura told me: “My next house will definitely be a custom build. I am planning to recreate in room box form the drawing room from the Red House, William Morris’ own Arts and Crafts house in Bexleyheath designed by Philip Webb. I’d love to recreate the entire house, but it would take up half of my own!”
I felt sure there would be a great market for her beautiful pieces, but Laura confessed that she creates minis for herself alone: “I don’t sell anything. For me I think it would take the fun out of it. Also, I have trouble letting my pieces go! Eventually, I will run out of space, I’m sure. My full-time career is in IT, so my creative pursuits are always in my spare time. I am loving lockdown as I get all my commute time back – an extra three hours a day!”
Laura told me: “I’d like to exhibit my work eventually, so maybe when we’re all allowed out again and the shows begin, I will start.” I sincerely hope that you do, Laura, because we’d all love to see your work in person!