Mythical Creatures in Miniature with Silvia Minucelli
This feature is part of #MadeToCreate, a series highlighting our community of entrepreneurs, makers and artisans on Instagram.
Even the most rational, scientifically minded people in the world need a little break from reality sometimes. Silvia Minucelli (@mijbilcreatures) knows the feeling all too well, so the engineer channeled that energy into creating her tiny, indescribably cute animal figurines. “I’m a rather introverted person, so in some sense my miniature world works as a buffer between me and the ‘real world,’” says Silvia, who lives in Sweden. She sculpts, paints, bakes and varnishes polymer clay — “traditional sculpting tools are way too big for my miniatures, so I use toothpicks, crochet hooks, needles and my fingertips” – to create her creatures like dragons, unicorns, jackalopes and satyrs. “Like many engineers, fantasy and mythology have always been a part of my life,” says Silvia, whose mother read her The Hobbit before bed while she was growing up in Venice, Italy. It’s back to her home country for Valentine’s Day this year — the ski slopes of the Dolomites are too good to miss out on in February. “Lots of snow, good company and a cup of decadent hot chocolate,” says Silvia. “What could be better?”