51st annual International Miniature Art Exhibition brings tiny masterpieces to Tarpon Springs

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - The saying "Good Things Come in Small Packages" could be the motto for the 51st Annual International Miniature Art Exhibition.

"We are focused on trying to bring back the whole concept of miniature art," Miniature Art Society of Florida President Julie J. McGowan said. "We're not talking small art, but we're talking miniature art, which is a discipline in itself."

The backstory:

The Miniature Art Society of Florida is the second-oldest miniature art organization in the country. McGowan says the Tampa area was the genesis of the revival of the medium. 

Miniature art has guidelines. Five-by-five inches is the maximum size for work. 

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"It's the idea that anytime you paint something that is minimal, you should be able to blow it up to the full size of another painting and have it compared," McGowan said. "It's not just scratching little things. It's actually painting fine art in miniature."

While the exhibition features traditional paintings, other mediums are present, like sculptures, watercolors and colored pencil pieces.

What they're saying:

"Colored pencils are a great medium for doing miniatures. You have got a tiny little point, and you can get tiny little details," Color Pencil Artist & Instructor Melissa Miller Nece said. "I think I've been doing miniatures for over 20 years."

Once a week in a corner of the exhibition, Miller Nece creates pieces in real time, hoping to answer questions about the miniature art world. 

"I feel like it's a vocation for me to go out and get people to do art. Doing art takes you into a different place. You use a different part of your brain than you do when you're doing math and working and doing all that literal, logical stuff. When you can get into that other side of the brain, it takes you to a happy place in a healthy way," Miller Nece said. 

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The long-time artist also has a handful of pieces in the show. Many of them are beach-themed, a specialty for her. She's been submitting to the show ever since the bug bit her years ago. 

"It really sucks you in. It makes you look at things. You can't just whiz through this show. You have to pause and really take note," Miller Nece said. "There's just so many fascinating things and little details that you notice. That's the wonderful thing about art. It makes us look at the world in a different way. When you look at the world to draw it, you don't see things the way you normally do."

Timeline:

The show will be on display at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, located on the Tarpon Springs campus of St. Petersburg College, until Feb. 15. 

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