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Miniature art has been made for over 1000 years and is prized by collectors. Whether a portrait painted on the side of poppy seed or a caravan of camels marching through the eye of a needle, micro-miniature art grants us access to a tiny world full of massive possibilities. With roots dating back to the medieval times, collectors of these delicate works of art seek out the most skilled masters, who endeavor to create ever-smaller, evermore-detailed paintings, etchings and sculptures.
In recent years, there has been a revival of both the craft of making the Micro Masterpieces and the audiences seeking out their work. The U.S. White House, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Astolat Dollhouse Castle, and museums around the world have collections of miniature paintings, drawings, original prints and etchings, and sculpture.
The techniques for producing micro-miniature works of art vary as much as the art itself. When painting a portrait, some artists will use a single hair from a paint brush to apply a stroke of paint so small it would not fill even one groove on your fingerprint.
Often using microscopes to properly see their creations as they work, micro-miniature sculptors will mount the finished piece on the blunt end of a severed human hair.
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