Published: May 09, 2008 11:31 am            

It’s in the details

Miniature Fine Art Show offers photo-perfect realism

BROWNSBURG — As art enthusiasts, Joe and Debbie Ashby travel around the country satiating their interest.

“We keep looking for things that are unusual or different,” said Joe Ashby.

It was at Charleston, S.C., where they found miniature art.

“It’s very popular in Florida, California, and up the East Coast, but it’s almost nonexistent in the Midwest,” Ashby said.

It inspired the couple to display the form at their Artistic Designs Gallery here. Their second annual Miniature Fine Art Show is on display throughout the month of May.

While there’s not a uniform definition of mini art, most who work in it consider a painting that measures less than 12 square inches to fit the criteria. Others however put it larger than that. Nor does it matter what the medium is. Watercolor, oil, acrylic, and colored pencil are all used.

The commonality is in the details.

“It doesn’t make much difference in the type of media,” Ashby said. “It’s more the detail you put into the picture. We have some that are 2 and a half by 4 inches that look like a photograph. They’re awesome.”

The works that make up the exhibit come from all over the country. The Ashbys invited artists from all over, including Canada, to submit up to four pieces each for the show. More than 40 responded, providing more than 120 pieces.

“Last year was excellent,” Ashby said. “This year, I think, far surpasses that with the quality of work.”

Even though miniature art isn’t common in the Midwest, Hendricks County is still well-represented in the display. Pittsboro’s Ramonette Dugan and Cheryle Lowe, Brownsburg’s Cindy Cradler, Thomas Himsel, and Laura Hall Tesdahl, and Avon’s Jerry Botzum all contributed works.

“It gives us a real good mix of art, from emerging artists all the way through some of the American masters,” Ashby said.

Paintings for the exhibit were limited in size to 8x10 inches.

“If we made it any larger we couldn’t get all the pieces on display,” Ashby said.

Botzum agreed to display some of his art, though the miniature format isn’t his specialty.

“Sometimes I think it takes me as long to do a small painting as it does a big one,” he said. “You have to slow down and put more accuracy into it.”

He’s an impressionist painter. His canvases are bigger and his textures impasto.

“You can paint with bigger brushes and paint loose, and capture the essence of the subject without having to put toenails on the gnat,” Botzum said.

Mini artists, by contrast, often use a paintbrush with one hair and paint as thin as possible with little texture.

“It takes a small brush and a lot of patience, and attention to detail,” Botzum said. “It’s not my typical approach to painting. I’m representative, but not photo-realistic.”

The miniature fine art show remains on display through May 31 at Artistic Designs Gallery, 152 E. Northfield Drive. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Cost is free.

For more information, call 852-0252.



wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.