It's a petite love affair with all things teeny-weeny for miniaturist Jean Blanc. Rebecca Blithe takes a closer look.
Enthralled dark eyes peer through a latticed window as a giant hand reaches through rafters to rearrange a button-sized plate. From sunrise until well beyond sunset, Jean Blanc can be found in her Coatesville garage, hand-casting resin lights the size of fingertips, designing doll-sized rooms, putting in wiring, and sewing, all for a masterpiece of epic proportions - figuratively speaking - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
While I confess I'm no Harry Potter fan, the tune from the movie seems to come out of nowhere as I set eyes upon Mrs Blanc's miniature magnum opus. Tiny porcelain plates line the tables in The Great Hall, a pygmy chicken with a human foot sits on a wooden desk in the transfiguration room, while little Dobby, the house elf, works in the kitchen. The realism of each pint-sized piece is astounding. "Even the sausages look real," notes the photographer, smacking his lips.
It's been two years in the making but the 17-roomed Hogwarts, including Myrtle's bathroom and Professor Snape's potion class, is almost complete. Aided by members of the North Shore Miniatures Club, who took on a room each, Mrs Blanc will display the lilliputian castle at the national biennial miniaturists' convention on the North Shore at Labour Weekend.
This year's theme, Movie Moments, was suggested by Mrs Blanc and she has revelled in the opportunity to replicate her beloved wizard wonderland. "I sort of pushed the boat a bit for a movie theme," she says. "Everybody's loving the theme. They've all really embraced it." Though none quite so much as she. Asked if it is fair to call her obsessed, Mrs Blanc grins and nods earnestly. "It's very fair. This is really what I do. I've read every book about six times each."
Formerly a tailor, Mrs Blanc cottoned on to miniaturism when she came across a book on the subject. "I thought, 'Oh my goodness, look at this'. Then I saw an ad for the convention. I went three days in a row. I used to make baskets and quilts. But there's only so many of those you can make."
Since delving into the world of all things small, Mrs Blanc has become a regular at her local Mitre 10. "It's my favourite store. I never go to dress shops."
Although most of the pieces are made from scratch - scratch being plaster, wood, cardboard or clay - she has splashed out on the occasional very special piece. I baulk at the $700 price-tag on an ornately carved wooden desk she holds out to me.
"I'd buy a miniature chandelier that would cost more than one for my house," she says.
Miniaturists are a resourceful breed. When not forking out for pint-sized creations, they keep anything that may be useful to their hobby. Nothing is sacred. "I was making a chaise longue one day and I had nothing to cover it with. Then I spotted a dress in the cupboard in the perfect fabric, so I cut that up. I've been told that's the sign of a true miniaturist: when you start cutting up your own stuff."
For club members who happily while away the hours alongside Mrs Blanc, friendship is no minor thing and small talk is a constant. "We talk about everything. We're always solving everybody's problems. Marriages, births, deaths - we're all supporting each other."
Peer revue
New Zealand Miniatures convention and exhibition:
Where: Massey University, Albany, in the Sir Neil Waters building, via Gate One
When: Saturday, Oct 23; Sunday, Oct 24; Monday, Oct 25; 10am-4pm
Tickets: At door. Adults: $6; children: $2
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