Views of out and inside the Wetherburn Dairy, subject of Patricia Richards’ class.

With the much anticipated Maysville Study Program front and center in many peoples’ minds, the preregistration deadline for the Williamsburg Study Program is rapidly approaching, seemingly very much under the radar. This study program, which has been a yearly fixture in Colonial Williamsburg for more than 20 years, is a fabulous post-holiday get-away. Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg is a fabulous location for this little retreat with its plethora of lovely historic buildings, relatively mild, mid-winter weather and reasonable hotel prices.

Like all past programs, this year’s Study Program has four great classes on the schedule, taught by experienced Artisan and Fellow members of the Guild, with projects drawn from the collections of Colonial Williamsburg. Pete and Pam Boorum will be teaching an 18th century side table that hails from their home state of New Hampshire. Jane Graber will be instructing her students in the shaping and decorating of red ware plates, bowls and platters. Patricia Richards will guide her students through construction of a 1/12 scale version of the Wetherburn Dairy that sits behind the tavern of the same name on Duke of Gloucester Street, and Bill Studebaker will be helping his students build a dressing glass (mirror) patterned on one that has come to this historic town from Charleston, South Carolina.

The 18th century New Hampshire side table that is the inspiration for Pete and Pam Boorum’s class.

For those that are interested, there is also an exclusive behind the scenes tour to visit the warehouse where are stored the architectural fragments from Williamsburg’s important colonial structures. The study of these fragments provides restorers an invaluable stream of information from which informed guesses can be made as to which materials and colors would be most appropriate for their work.

The dressing glass (mirror and drawer) originally made in South Carolina, that will be the inspiration for Bill Studebaker’s class.

As part of the study program, registered students and guests each receive a pass that admits them to Colonial Williamsburg museums and historic buildings for the duration of the program; as well as affording them a discount on their purchases there. The special IGMA rate at the Lodge is good for days before and after the program so you can stay as long as you want. Information and registration forms can be found a www.igma.org.

Jane Graber will be teaching her students to shape and decorate platters, plates and bowls in the same manner their colonial ancestors did in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Mohamad Hafez in his studio with two of his suitcase framed miniature vignettes. Photo by Cole Wilson.

Show Committee work goes on for more than a year to bring you each and every Guild Show.  So, it is quite a relief when the countdown gets to single digits and we can say… 2018 Guild Show events commence in 6 days, Wednesday, September 19 with pre-show classes. There are 19 classes on the schedule and even at this late date, it is still possible to sign up for some of them. You may also still sign up for the two tours being offered that Wednesday, the historic homes tour visiting Naumkeag and the Norman Rockwell Museum, and the Miniatures Tour, which will be taking in a local miniatures collection.

A vignette by Mohamad Hafez showing a slice of Syrian life.

Friday night, September 21 the weekend’s events kick off with the Gathering of the Guild: Desserts and Demonstrations event featuring a wide variety of demonstrations by some of the talented artist/dealers you will see in the salesroom later. A bountiful display of desserts, as well as other more health conscious options, will be there for your enjoyment, along with demonstrations on painting techniques, the application of hinges, stitching how-to’s and the making of miniature tassels, to list just a few. You will also have your first chance to take a close-up look at the pieces submitted to the ‘Visions of Miniature Grandeur’ Showcase, and plenty of time to catch up with friends.

Jeanie Anderson will be a dealer at the Guild Show for the first time this year and will be teaching these super cute Halloween treats.

Saturday, September 22, the salesroom opens at 9 a.m. for IGMA members only, and at 10 a.m. for the general public. If you want to be one of the first to shop and aren’t yet a member, that is easily remedied! Silent auctions will offer additional shopping possibilities outside the salesroom, and a room full of exhibits nearby offers a quiet respite for anyone needing to take a break and be inspired.

When the salesroom closes on Saturday, more fun ensues with a Live Auction and the evening’s buffet dinner and special program, featuring artist and architect Mohamad Hafez, who will be sharing his miniature work with us.

Sunday, September 23 provides one more day to find those special miniatures, either in the salesroom or on the silent auction tables outside. The youngest miniaturists are invited to take part in some free crafting projects midday, and the Small Beginnings table will again be available with treasures priced for their smaller budgets. At 3:30 p.m. though, the carriage turns back into a pumpkin and the magic disappears for another year.

See you there!

Guild Show class brochure, illustrating each class and show offering at the 2018 Guild Show in Hartford, CT, this September.

The Guild Show is being held September 19-21, 2018, at the Hartford/Windsor Marriott Hotel again this year. The hotel is conveniently located near major highways for those who will be driving, a short and free shuttle ride from the airport, and reasonably close to train and bus transportation as well. The show rate also includes free breakfast for two!

Beth Freeman-Kane, such an artist in depicting nature in miniature, will help you to create this colorful vignette of a hummingbird amongst the flowers.

Fully illustrated brochures describing all class and tour offerings made their debut at the Chicago International Show last week. If you’re not on the IGMA or show mailing list, you can request one from the show director or check out the Show pages on the Guild’s website.

This will be Jeannie Anderson’s (Maya Miniatures) first time at the Guild Show and she’ll be teaching her students how to create these super cute Halloween treats!

Jessica Weisel’s charming toy bunny toys. Weazilla and all her toys and curiosities will be at table 81.

The International Guild of Miniature Artisans has been in existence for more than 35 years, and there has been a Guild Show in every one of those years, after all, putting on a quality show and sale was one of the fundamental reasons for creating the Guild. This year’s Guild Show is now just around the corner and there are many reasons to celebrate and join in the festivities!

This year, 2017, marks the Guild Show’s premier at the lovely Hartford/Windsor Marriott hotel, in Hartford, Connecticut. Classes will be taking place Tuesday through Friday, September 19-22, and while registration has been very strong, there are still a few spots available and some really neat projects on the schedule. We have been very fortunate that some premier teachers were willing to stop over in Hartford on their way home from the Miniature Masterworks show and to teach and take a table at the Guild Show. Check out the list of classes on the Guild website, but pay particular attention to the cut-off dates if you find yourself interested in signing up!

Mzia always has at least a few pieces on her table that look straight out of a French chateau. Small Creations by Mzia will be at table 82.

Other festivities are on the agenda, including the delicious and edifying Desserts and Demonstrations event that will take place Friday evening. Join your mini friends and make some new ones while you watch artist demonstrations and enjoy desserts and crudités. Saturday evening there will be a rollicking good time at the Live Auction with our masterful auctioneer Duffy Wineman, followed by a buffet dinner and presentation by Kaye Browning, as she shares her path into miniatures collecting.

It will be a fabulous weekend and I hope you will be able to join us for all, or any part of it!

A toddler in a pink one-piece by Two’s Company Miniatures. Find Jennifer and Elizabeth Ellis at table 38.

One of a kind trunk and sculpture by Mark Murphy and Mary Grady O’Brien in the 2014 Live Auction.

Guild School has many fun components besides the actual classes. If  you’ve gotten in early, you may have taken part in one of the first optional extras, a Saturday morning seminar. Seminars also take place on Sunday and Monday evenings, if you didn’t sign up for one before getting to school, there are sign up sheets in the school office for any that have spaces remaining.

Curious about what’s going on in the other classes? All the classrooms are open on Sunday or Monday evenings prior to the seminars, some buildings one night, the remaining buildings on the other so that you’ll have a chance to visit as many, or as few, as you wish.

Every night, there is a social gathering in what is commonly called ‘The Bilge’, downstairs in Curtis Hall. Just pop in anytime before 11 p.m. and enjoy a beverage and snack along with some conversation and occasional game playing. Each evening is ‘hosted’ by different groups within the IGMA organization, so a variety of questions can often be answered by your friendly bartenders.

Silent auctions take place in the cafeteria daily. Have a look during one of your meal breaks and place a bid if something looks interesting to you. Monday evening there is an open bid silent auction during dinner, and Tuesday evening, right after the infamous Lobster Cookout, is the Live Auction with many one of a kind items donated by teachers and some of the Guild’s Artisan and Fellow members. I understand that this year there will be a special silent auction running outside the cafeteria for the first couple of days-hint…they’re calling it ‘Real Estate Row!’

Relax in the evening watching the sailboats in the harbor, or join Julie Hagel’s crew for a kayak paddle.

Wednesday night is supposed to be rest and relaxation night, but there are no hallway monitors and if you relax best by working on one of your class projects until midnight, that’s on you, just no whining the next day when you can’t see where that tiny nail flew off to!

I hesitate to say Thursday night is one of the highlights of the week as most of the previous nights can lay claim to that moniker, but on Thursday, everyone gets to shop–no more of that putting a bid in and hoping you get it here–it’s a manic hour and a half of shopping along with a cash bar-which always helps the shopping along, and snacks.

The work of Phyllis Hawke’s students at the graduation exhibit in 2015.

The exhibit room opens for the first viewing Saturday evening during the opening reception and remains open during the entire week, as long as there is someone to staff it. Exhibits on view are provided by attending students and teachers. Do you have something you’d like to share? A piece you made that came out particularly well, or something you truly love that you purchased? Just let the exhibit chair know what you’re bringing and there will be a label waiting for its arrival. Saturday evening whatever class prototypes are available will be on display, to be followed the rest of the week by available prototypes for future classes. And, if you have a free period, consider volunteering to man the front desk and help keep the exhibit room open as much as possible.

Jeanne Rullie will be teaching the sculpting of Geppetto in a four day class at the 2017 Guild Show.

If a solid week of classes in Castine doesn’t fit your schedule or your budget, perhaps a class at the Guild Show this September will prove to be just the ticket. Ranging in length from a few hours to a few days, the classes at the 2017 Guild Show offer instruction in a wide range of media, including sculpting, woodworking, textiles and room settings among others, and in scales from 1/12th down to 1/144th scale.

Detailed information on classes and registration is currently posted on the IGMA website. Printed brochures containing information on all Guild Show events will be mailed to Guild members

Michael Yurkovic will be teaching the construction of this fanciful horse and carriage vignette in a 3 day class at the 2017 Guild Show.

in the coming weeks and will be available to everyone at upcoming shows beginning with the Chicago International in April. But, in this case, registration is first come first served, so if it sounds like something you’d be interested in, check it out before classes start to fill!

BethFreeman-Kane will be teaching this small cardinal vignette in a one day class at the 2017 Guild Show.

Sometime in late winter, Guild School Director Barbara Davis, sends a notice to all IGMA’s Artisan and Fellow members, asking for proposals for classes for the following year.  Prospective teachers, all of whom must be Artisan or Fellow members, have until May 15, to submit their ideas which generally include a brief description and a photo. The photos are very important as they are often the only information that students will have on which to base their opinions on which prospective classes they would be interested in taking. All these photos are posted on huge display boards outside the cafeteria at Guild School, and those display boards are often the first thing returning students look for. Nothing like planning for the next year when you haven’t even begun the current year’s classes!

A proposal from Ann High that eventually became a class.

Students have several days to examine the posted photos and mark their preferences on their opinion sheets-indicating with a 1 or 2, which classes they are definitely interested in taking, and which they might be interested in taking. These ‘votes’ are tallied and each proposed class then has a sort of beginning point from which further evaluations can be made. This is all what I’ll call Step One in the process.

Step Two is in the hands of the School Committee. Upon arrival at school, each committee member receives a large packet of information containing photos and descriptions of each proposed class, along with a little information on the instructors and their teaching experience. Committee members are responsible for familiarizing themselves with that material during the week so that when they meet at week’s end, they are ready to help with the selection process. When the committee meets, all the previously mentioned items are present for discussion. The student opinion tallies are often the beginning point, but committee members also spend a substantial amount of time reading student reviews of classes/teachers who have proposals under consideration.

A proposal that did not become a class.

Next, large sheets of paper are posted around the meeting room, one for each category of class, i.e. furniture, structure, metal, etc. to ensure that a variety of media and disciplines will be represented in the final choices. Starting with the longest classes, 48 and 36 hours, the list begins to be winnowed down. Any proposal with good numbers and strong teacher performance will make the list. If that teacher has more than one that proposal that looks good, discussion will ensue as to which might be the more popular choice, but often the final decision in cases like that is left to the director to work out with the instructor. When all proposals have been considered, then work continues to make sure the list is balanced according to category and media, by number of offerings overall, and also by time categories; for example, you obviously want more 12 hour classes than 36 hour classes as students can take 3 – 12 hour classes in the same time as one 36 hour class.

By the end of the meeting, which often takes a good 6-8 hours, Barbara Davis winds up with a list of possible classes for the following year. And that leads to Step Three, Barbara now goes home and begins to contact instructors. Sometimes she needs to ask them to make changes in their proposals to address questions that may have arisen in the committee meeting. Sometimes she needs to ask them if they’d mind teaching more classes, or fewer and be a student part-time. Some classes/instructors will drop out here, and sometimes, when registration begins, other classes will be dropped due to lack of interest. In any case, about 6 months after the process began, the school catalog is in production and the list of classes goes up on the website where eager students pore over the possibilities and start to make their lists!

This minute spice chest is the project for Bill Robertson’s Williamsburg class.

There are not many places where you really get the feeling that if you just slipped through the right door, you might find yourself emerging into the 18th century; well, Colonial Williamsburg feels that way to me. As an adult, I’ve been visiting Colonial Williamsburg in January for a Guild Study Program or three, and crowds of tourists at that time of year, are non-existent.

The limited tourism schedule is one of the reasons IGMA can continue to hold study programs in Williamsburg each year. The reduced number of visitors means that lodging rates and classroom rentals are relatively inexpensive, and also that the curators and other staff are happy to assist us with research and planning while there are fewer demands on their time and skills.

Tools for the Colonial hearth is the subject of Alan Hamer’s Williamsburg class.

This year we are pleased to offer four classes-two in woodworking, one in metal, and one in needlework, along with an optional Monday seminar on painting floor cloths with Williamsburg’s own, Sue Rountree.

Sue and her husband, Joe, are kind enough to welcome attendees, students and guests, to their home for the program’s Friday night dinner-the ceremonial opening to the weekend. Of course we’ve already had the chance to take in a tour or two-this year a special viewing of the exhibit Architectural Clues to 18th Century Williamsburg at the DeWitt Wallace Museum, and a private viewing of several of Colonial Williamsburg’s historic buildings.

More information is available on the IGMA website, and brochures are in the mail to all IGMA members.

Decorating a teeny gingerbread house in Teresa Layman’s class on Thursday.

A wonderful schedule of classes and special events were available in the days leading up to the show, and Friday night’s Gathering of the Guild–otherwise known as Desserts and Demonstrations, launched the show weekend itself. If you still haven’t had the chance to experience a Guild Show weekend, Desserts and Demonstrations is a delicious bounty for body and soul, the desserts and other snacks spread over several tables on one side of the Grand Concourse, and across from that, tables are set out for demonstrations and otherwise informative discussions. You can sit and enjoy conversation and desserts with friends old and new, while at the same time pick up a new tip or two on using materials or techniques you may already be familiar with, or you may even learn something entirely new.

Sparkling crystals dripping from a Frank Crescente chandelier.

On Saturday morning the Aladdin’s cave of miniature bounty was revealed when the salesroom doors opened and shoppers poured through looking for favorite artists and  new treasures. Live and silent auctions increased the shopping opportunities with many one-of-a-kind pieces, all donated to support the Guild’s many educational programs.

A tv repair shop from Wright Guide Miniatures.

Continue to visit the Guild Show on Instagram where you will see continued postings of photos from this year’s show as well as updates about the 2017 show.

On Thursday, August 4, Teresa Layman will be teaching the construction of a charming miniature gingerbread house.

The Glenpointe Marriott in Teaneck, New Jersey will be the host location once again for the annual IGMA Show August 3-7. There will be 64 dealers present with the Gallery of the Guild tables representing many more Artisan and Fellow members who could not attend in person. Before the sales room opens, there will be a wide range of educational opportunities, including a Guild Study Program which features projects based on pieces in the Brooklyn Museum collections, taught by expert IGMA instructors. Here is your chance to combine a little learning with some superior shopping for a well rounded miniatures experience. Add a little exploration of the big city, New York, nearby and it sounds like a winning vacation destination!

Keep checking the IGMA website, along with Instragram #IGMAguildshow, for more information on the coming events!

Ron Stetkewicz will be teaching his students how to finish and mount brass sea life sculptures on driftwood for the perfect accent piece for your miniature displays.

If you missed out on this class at Guild School this year, here’s your chance. Deb Mackie will be teaching it again on Friday, August 5 at the Guild Show!