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Bears Gollies Dolls Wooden and soft toys Hats and boxes Paintings

My primary goal is to make a range of toys and associated items in miniature, based on Australian, German, USA and English full scale toys made during the 1900s. I try to capture the enduring visual qualities of the full-sized original but it is important to make a miniature version that is a satisfactory toy in its own right. 

I prefer to use long-lasting, natural materials such as suede and leather for the soft toys as it allows me to hand-stitch them in a traditional manner. The tiny toys can then be gently played with or rearranged, as they would be in full scale.

The pattern pieces for each toy are cut free-hand directly from the material to my own design and adjustments are made as the work progresses. More effort is required to make each miniature a successful one but the resulting variations ensure that it will be unique. My soft dolls, bears and gollies measure between 3/4" and 1 1/2" – a suitable toy size for 1/12th scale dollhouse dolls. Some dolls and bears may be small enough to suit 1/24th scale.

Toy accessories may include spare knitted clothes, leather suitcases, raffia baskets, toy boxes, tiny lathe-turned dolls, picture puzzles, kites, scrap books or even tinier toys’ toys. I enjoy making a range of other miniatures, including oil or watercolour paintings, and I seek ideas for new miniatures at every opportunity.

My background in Fine Arts has shaped my ideas in miniature making and I value originality above anything else. I also try to express the great pleasure and real fun that my little toys bring to me and explore the story-telling possibilities which miniatures allow.

In 2002 I was accepted as a Fellow of the International Guild of Miniature Artisans (IGMA).

Helen Davies
Cupboard Miniatures, Tasmania