I am a trained artist and sculptor, and have been designing and making miniatures for over 27 years. My unique, original style and concepts are well established and respected in the miniature field.
I have had an enthusiastic following of collectors since the early 1980’s, when I first began to develop this genre. My miniatures have my trade mark feature of moving limbs, which gives each piece a life of its own. Much of my previous work has been connected with the telling of stories, and over the last few years I have evolved a new collection of models with a theatrical theme.
I live and work on the Black Isle; an area in the Highlands of Scotland 7 miles north of Inverness. My work is exacting and time absorbing, and production is all carried out by my team of skilled painters and is administrated by local people all of whom have worked together for many years. They are mostly collectors themselves and take great enjoyment from the contacts that they too have made with other collectors over the years.

My work is all made in Britain by British craftsmen. Casting in pewter is an old established skill which requires much knowledge and experience. It has a long history in Britain and was at its height of sophisticated production in the 17th century when beautifully crafted tableware, candle holders, and tankards were highly prized.
Nowadays items like miniatures and jewellery are cast in specialised rubber moulds which involve heat and pressure to make. The circular moulds are spun at high speed and the liquid pewter is poured in to produce multiple images. The process of creating a miniature must, of course, begin with my ideas. I sculpt the new piece in its actual miniature size using a green putty-like material. This involves many hours of close work and several cups of tea! This first ‘master model’ is then sent away to be cast in to a pewter master. Once it is returned I work on this metal model to perfect final detail and return it to be recast and made in to production castings.
Once the bags of grey metal shapes arrive back at the Studio my team take over.
First, each miniature has to be trimmed with a file to remove cast lines. In the case of jointed figures and more complicated designs this involves several separate parts - two arms, two legs, a body, and in some cases a pair of wings too!
It is then over to the painters where the pieces receive several coats of paint before the finished effect can be seen. Non toxic enamel paints are used on the miniatures.
Finally the pieces are assembled and put through quality control before being packed up ready for sale. The high quality of design and finish on all of my work comes at a high price of skill and care which must be taken. Producing a miniature is a long, slow process with many stages and several people handling each piece. The process takes approximately three months from the initial idea to the appearance of the completed pieces, and involves quite a few headaches and several obstacles to overcome. But overcome they do and another cheerful little character is born. Once a miniature is in production the process is still fairly lengthy and takes around three weeks from receipt of the ‘raw’ casting to the completion and packing.

[ Home ]

The Studio

[ Designs ]

[ Contact ]

[ Club ]

[ FWS Team ]

[ Chatter ]