Perfection in Miniature Awards Junior Edition – Winners
Our PIMA competition was special this year, as were gave the exhibitors a break fro the competition & focused on younger talents. We called out to all the enthusiastic miniaturists under the age of 25 to create something really special for our PIMA display at our Summer Show in Kensington & of course we were not let down.
With 2 categories; ‘My Favourite Room’ & ‘My Signature Piece’ the idea was to either embrace your story-telling by creating a room inspired by a favourite book, film, game or story etc, or show us your skills in a particular area of miniaturism by making a single item in 1:12 scale.
Of course we loved to see all the entries at the show but what we enjoyed more was hearing from parents & the children themselves, how much they had enjoyed taking part. Many have spent months to perfect their room, taking over kitchen tables & raiding the recycling bin for useful materials.
Our judges included Kevin Mulvany (miniature house builder) Harriet Muncaster (award winning children’s author), Emma Batteson (dolls house decorator & judge from Canada’s Best in Miniature), Alison Horne (dolls house restorer & collector) & Ahmed Al Thani (dolls house collector & aficionado). All were looking for different things from the entries: Story telling, imagination, good use of materials, attention to detail & understanding of creating an eye-catching scene etc), so there was some heated debate, but the favourites were finally decided.
A HUGE thank you to everyone who entered the competition. It was a fabulous display & great talking point, with many favourites among our visitors.
All the winners will be taking part in workshops with some of our top craftspeople to improve their skills, so I am sure we will be seeing more of them in the future. Here are some details of the winners & the runners up.
Under 11’s
1st Place : Knee High to a Penguin by Bea Collier (age 9)
“I made everything from things I’ve found and collected when walking my dog… I’ve hidden references to other books and films I enjoy and tried to add some “Britishness” which feels part of his character. One big challenge was how to make it look like an igloo but not lose space.”
Runners Up
2nd Place: The Art Room by Umut Kocadere (age 9)
3rd Place: George’s Marvellous Medicine by George Brook (age 8)
3rd Place: Willy Wonka’s Bedroom by Milo Sandor (age 9)
“Umut loved making the tiny pottery and drawing details of the rooms as the mini artwork”
“George wanted to create the iconic kitchen scene as it would be fun and easily recognisable”
“Milo made the furniture from cardboard, decorated with fabric and made lots of sweets from polymer clay” (We love the use of chocolate wrappers to decorate the exterior!)
Under 18’s
1st Place: Apple Blossom Cottage by Myla Smith (age 12)
“I found a Brambly Hedge book in my room … the natural materials and all their little things tucked into corners, hidden in boxes and covering surfaces felt like the perfect thing to do as a miniature” (The Judges loved her detail, even with the edge of her room being made out of sticks)
Myla also won 1st place in the under 18’s ‘Signature Piece’ category for her hand carved violin & bow.
Runners Up
2nd Place: Let them eat Cake by Arabella Duffy (age 12)
2nd Place: Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania by Simon Sandor (age 12)
Runner up: A Musical Garden by Arabella Zanette (age 12)
“Arabella Duffy made a history video on Marie Antoinette and many peg dolls of her too, which is where she found her passion for rococo style miniatures” @arabellaloulou
“The entrance hall appealed to Simon because it is structured like a horror setting but once the monsters arrive, it’s filled with love and joy”
“Arabella Zanette came up with the idea of a secret garden one rainy weekend when her mum was out”
Under 25’s
1st Place : Astronomer’s Outfit by Eliza Hobbs (age 19)
“In a recent trip to Mexico City, I purchased 1 x 1 inch tiles of the sun & moon at an artisan market … After this, my niece was visiting & one night I read her the ‘Fancy Nancy’ Astronomers book … after deciding to make an outfit, my ideas started flowing” @bearcubminiatures
Runners Up
2nd Place: A Maker’s Worktable by Sarah Idziaszczyk (age 24)
3rd Place: Checkmate by Ahona Mukhergee (age 24)
” Sarah created an aged & worn makers worktable featuring in progress work & materials” @jazzzchick_creations
“A chessboard requires a lot of the perfection, and Ahona studied numerous woodworker and artist guides to learnt about how they are traditionally made in life-size so she could mimic it closely in miniature” @meraki.ahona
The Perfection in Miniature Awards will be returning in 2026. We are planning to run our usual competition with some changes for the Summer Festival & continue with our Junior edition for the Christmas Festival.
