By JESSE GRAHAM
GETTING Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland under the same roof isn’t something that usually occurs in Healesville.
But for the next month, visitors to the Healesville Library will get just that, with the Victorian Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (VAME) showing off their work.
VAME members Jane Bullock and Karen Barnes visited the library on Tuesday 17 May, to put the finishing touches on a new exhibit, showcasing members’ works in creating miniature worlds.
Scenes from Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland, as well as houses, objects and street scenes fill the shelves of the exhibition, all meticulously hand-made to scale.
One piece, depicting Harry first getting sent his letters to Hogwarts, is made within a book, with a detailed replica of Harry’s cupboard underneath the stairs.
Ms Barnes said the group met regularly in Mount Waverley, with members coming from the Yarra Valley and around the state to work on pieces, share tips and information, and take part in workshops.
“The good thing about the workshops we do is you actually go home most times, and I’d say about 95 per cent of the time, with a completed article,” she said.
“While you’re waiting for one piece to dry, you’re painting another piece – while that’s drying, you’re going back to the first piece – it’s like a little production line.
“Sometimes we have a theme, like a garden theme, so people will be doing a plant … another person might do a pair of gumboots.”
Pointing out different pieces in the cabinet, Ms Barnes said miniaturists use scaling of 1/12th, 1/24th and 1/48th to make different pieces, with whole rooms made perfectly scaled.
“The good thing about miniatures is it incorporates all crafts – we do wood work, we do fabric work, we do knitting, we do embroidery; we work with paper, we work with plastics; we’re gluing things, we’re constructing things,” she said.
“The skill set gets widened, and you don’t have to be brilliant – you don’t have to be perfect – you just have to want to do it.”
Ms Barnes, a Lilydale resident, said she got involved with VAME four and a half years ago, when she was purchasing thread to knit and saw a poster in the haberdashery she was visiting.
The exhibition, she said, was to promote VAME to the wider community, as well as the Miniatures and Dollhouse Fair and Exhibition on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July at the Mount Waverley Community Centre.
For more information about VAME, visit www.vame.org.au – to see the exhibition, visit the Healesville Library in the Community Link building on River Street.
