GOSHEN — Eleven years ago, Brooke Rothshank went to a doll house miniature show where she discovered the world of 1/12 scale creations.
After that show she began painting teeny tiny portraits and reproduction paintings in 1/12 scale, which measures around 1½-by-2 inches. Rothshank has also painted small (8-by-10 inch) paintings, worked on some illustration projects and learned production glass blowing.
After receiving a scholarship to attend the International Guild of Miniature Artisans (IGMA) school in Maine, she has become a member and fellow IGMA and has taught miniature painting at the school, off and on, for six years.
She’s been married for 14 years to Justin Rothshank and the couple has three children under 7 years of age. Her husband is a full-time studio potter and she has been a full-time studio artist.
Her studio time has been limited as a mother with young children, so she’s far more efficient with her time and potentially more productive.
“I know that when there is time to work, I need to get as much done as possible. I have a personal need to create, so finding smaller ways to satisfy that need has been my solution,” Rothshank said. “I decided to do a year of daily miniature paintings and began to feel like I had some better balance.”
Her artwork ranged from a portrait of two young girls to a bottle of Coca Cola to a teapot or a camera to clothing and automobiles during 2015.
“I would often choose something that was in my daily life. I like to think of my mini paintings as moments. Moments from the day before, something I shared with a friend, noticed on a walk, or heard on the radio,” she said. “I really like the detail work and it’s fun for me. The daily minis generally felt intimate and precious to me in the moment they were finished. Often the image I chose to paint had something to do with the immediate day. In a way, it felt like visual journaling that I could share and have it mean something different for others receiving it.”
She said her husband encouraged her to post photos of her daily paintings on Instagram and Facebook for accountability. As a result, she began to receive commissions for her teeny tiny artwork along with comments from individuals and making the artist feel vulnerable.
“It was a daily exercise in the vulnerability of communicating through the unlimited access of social media, responding to anonymous group critique and feedback,” Rothshank said. “I was able to loosen my grip on ‘is this perfect?’, ‘how will this be received?’ and was exposed to opportunities and connections that never would have materialized had I been focused on overworking the ‘perfect’ piece. The goal became more about communication in a consistent way with the world around me. Once I finished an image and put it out there, it didn’t matter if I liked it. It was out of my hands. Of course, by working each day one naturally improves and learns, so that is a bonus.”
The couple has an upcoming sale on their Etsy shop site. This will be their fifth annual April Fools Day sale April 1. The event will be their only sale of the year as way to say thank you for supporting their work as artists. Visit their website at www.rothshank.etsy.com.
From 8 a.m. to noon EST only, everything in the Etsy shop will be 50 percent off. From noon until 4 p.m. everything will be 30 percent off. Use the code APRILFOOL50 from 8 a.m. to noon and APRILFOOL30 from noon to 4 p.m.