Scenes of Margate, Ramsgate or even Hogwarts in perfect miniature are being created by Margate artist Kellie Hogben.
The former Clarendon pupil uses her talents to produce painstakingly detailed images of everything from Turner Contemporary to images of Star Wars on 9cm by 7cm acrylic canvases.
The 29-year-old, who works in the arts and culture department at Canterbury Christ Church University, took up the ‘mini’ art after leaving university and not having a studio!
She said: “I didn’t have a studio but doing this could set up on the coffee table without making too much mess.”
Many of Kellie’s works are currently on display at the Ramsgate Micro Museum in Church Hill and some are being snapped up as quick as she can paint them.
The new ‘fantasy’ works, from Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, are selling before the paint is even dry. Margate scenes are also proving massively popular. Kellie first started painting them when she worked at Turner Contemporary.
She said: “I was seeing Turner paintings and the sea every day. Now I can’t paint the Margate ones quick enough!”
Kellie started her mini-art collection after graduating from the University for Creative Arts in 2010. She has since worked at Turner Contemporary, the Sidney Cooper gallery in Canterbury and had a series of local art exhibitions.
Kellie has also entered work for the postcard art auction which will raise money for the reopening of the Margate Caves in 2019, and the extensive outreach programme that is planned as part of that.
The beautiful miniatures, which come with their own easel, start at £15 and demand is high with Christmas commissions already being placed. Each one takes around an hour to create.
Find out more about Kellie Hogben Arts here and, to see her work up close, visit the Micro Museum or the Open School East fair tomorrow (September 3) from 10am to 2pm at Resort Studios in Athelstan Road, Cliftonville.