Step into Colette Cameron's home in NSW's Central West and you will be transported into a tiny world of her creation. A colourful candy store, a photorealistic pharmacy and a fabulous fairy party room are just some of the incredible builds lining the wall of her living room.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ms Cameron describes herself as a miniaturist - that is, someone who makes or collects miniature objects - and her home filled with detailed dioramas is proof of her passion.
"I'm addicted to anything creative and making and building pretty much everything. The longest I've gone without working on something is about a week," she said.
The Dubbo-based mum-of-three has been creating miniatures for about 12 years now. Her obsession with the craft started with building human-sized furniture but when she ran out of space for her work she decided to scale down her builds.
"Mt step-son wanted me to try building him a haunted mansion and that's where it all started. It was a bit of a joke. I thought, 'yeah I'll give it a shot' and I found it really fun and I went from there," she said.
"For the first five years I was doing it I didn't even know 'minituarism' existed. I knew there were doll houses but I didn't know there was an entire genre out there of people out there creating miniatures so I was just doing my own thing."
Ms Cameron's dedication to the hobby grew from there - now she spends about 70 hours a week working on her projects which she shares with other miniaturists around the world online and in specialist magazines.
"As I get towards the last phase of a project I'm already formulating the next project in my head. Before I even start I know exactly what will go where and what kind of detail will go into it," she explains.
"Getting started is just a matter of marking up the wood and starting the cuts. Then I become obsessed. My poor hubby has to put up with it, once I start a project I work on it seven days a week. Sometimes he finds me in the garage at 4am."
One eye-catching miniature on display in Ms Cameron's home is a bright pink lolly store featuring working lighting and over 102,000 painstakingly handmade items. Overall, it took four months to build the project.
"I focus on as much realism as possible - if I make a shop I want to put in all the products that a shop would have in it, so if I make a pharmacy it has thousands of pill bottles and products," she said.
"Most miniaturists, if they're making shops and things, they only fill the area that will be visible for the camera. But I make it as if you're walking through that shop, so there's always something hidden and going on in all areas."
Being one of the few Australians who are active in the hobby of making miniatures, Ms Cameron likes to include as many local touches in her builds as she can. Sitting on the shelves are products with packaging familiar to Aussies and plastered on the walls are tiny Australian flags.
"It's like a snapshot in time, you can see all the products that were available and I'm very heavy on the Australian products - I try to do a little bit of Aussie promotion where I can," she said.
"When I was building the pharmacy it was during the bush fires so I made sure to put in charity boxes for the Australian fire services on the counters. It's just little details like that for Aussies to notice."
Ms Cameron said she finds inspiration for her projects from other hobbyists, what she sees around her in day-to-day life and what's going on in the world. She says the most meaningful project she worked on was one she started during COVID lockdowns.
"The concept is a store which has everything a man could need to survive a lockdown - video games, electronics, DVDs and hobbies. It's completely filled with those items and surrounded by all the signs we saw everywhere during COVID," she said.
"This project was important to me because I have three children in their 20s and the lockdowns came at a time when they should be out enjoying their life but they were all trapped in their homes."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Wanting to help more people get into the art of miniatures, Ms Cameron shares her processes online and teaches people how to work with cheap and readily available materials like MDF, polymer clay and cardboard. She also creates tutorials showing women how to use power tools.
"I show people how to do lighting systems, build structures, put walls up and windows in and how to decorate windows with cheap products and build diorama boxes," she said.
"A lot of people look at miniatures and feel quite overwhelmed with them - because when you first start you don't know where to begin - but you can get the hang of it pretty quickly. It just takes practice."
"I'd love to see mums work together with their kids and help open the hobby up to more young people. It's the young generation and new ideas coming out of them who will bring the hobby forward."
For people hoping to get into the hobby, Ms Cameron's advice is to start simple.
"I always tell people to start with something small. The easiest way to get used to it is to start making little book covers, a little desk, maybe a little lamp," she said.
"When you're starting out you don't want to go in with a whole concept you have to start with the little things and get your mind used to working with things on a smaller scale."