Perfection in Miniature Awards 2022
The winners & the runners up.
The PIMA competition is always a bit of a blur for me as the judging happens on the same evening as we are setting up the Summer Show in Kensington Town Hall. It means I never really get to appreciate the entries & admire the beautiful work until after the show.
This year we were so happy to have Susan Rogers (half of dolls house builders Mulvany & Rogers) join the judging panel (alongside Ahmed Al Thani & Caroline Hamilton) & as usual there was a certain amount of debate about the winners. Judging these awards is not for the faint hearted. All the entires are so different so you do have to work out a system that helps you compare & contrast. The 1st round of voting is ‘blind’ so judges do not know who has made the entries, but they can see the notes made by the makers to help explain their entry. They are marked from 1-10, after which scores are totted up & the top 7 were then open for judges discussion.
The winners are presented with their prizes at our aftershow drinks party once the show closes on the Friday night. (1st prize is £6000, which goes along way for these talented makers to be able to continue their time-consuming work).
During the show, the entries are displayed for exhibitors & visitors to vote for their favourite entries. The winner of the ‘People’s Choice Award’ was announced on Saturday afternoon.
Here are the winners in a little more detail.
This was the 1st time Mike had entered the PIMA. He had spotted a full size version of a similar Supper Set at an antiques market in London about 30 years ago. Although it was quite bulky in real life, he could see that it would scale down nicely. During lockdown he realised he finally had the time to work on this miniature project & began creating all the components of this incredible set.
I loved this story from one of the Judges Caroline Hamilton, who was the founder of the Festival back in 1985 & it shows how craftsmen need time to develop their skills.
Around 30 years ago, Mike sent me some samples of his work that were not very good. I decided to send him some work I had purchased by some of the best silversmiths working in miniature at that time & say “Look! This is what you have to do!” 30 years later he is now considered one of the best in the world. Well done Mike!
Laura’s Cat was another incredible piece buy Jeremy Smith of Catmando Miniatures. Jeremy is always one of the people to beat in this competition& in privies years has be placed 1st, 3rd & Highly Commended. Now he has the full set with 2nd place in this year’s competition. You can read more about his entry HERE.
Hong MacKenzie produced another incredible feat of needlework for her entry that won her 3rd place. This was another lockdown project taking 3 months to design & a year & a half to stitch. (around 260 000 stitches!) It is difficult to appreciate these entries from the photos but believe me they were spectacular!
All our Highly Commended’s were so different this year. First we had Miss Market Garden by Annelies de Kort who managed to knit the story of Operation Market Garden (Watch the film ‘A Bridge to Far’ for the full story) onto a dolls knitted skirt & top!
Then we had Rohit’s incredible Ornate Bureau Cabinet that also won him the ‘People’s Choice Award’. A truly breathtaking piece of furniture which had so many opening doors & moving parts too.
Next Nicola Mascall’s tapestry stool with fringe. Nicola is another craftsman who always score highly in this competition & this time, she pushed herself to make the stool as well as the tapestry & the miniature fringing all by hand.
The final Highly Commended went to Alexandra Cantatore of Alemikimikri. Her recognisable style is pure perfection here in this beautiful metal trunk filled to the brim with artist materials & supplies.
Click HERE to see all the entries for the 2022 PIMA. We cannot wait until next May when the 2023 PIMA winners will be unveiled.
