Anastasiya Ivanova – MayLina Miniatures

It Started with Donuts

by Pam North

While Anastasiya Ivanova always has had a passion for miniatures, her journey into creating them herself began with making two tiny polymer clay donuts, which she had intended to be earrings. Next came a cake, which was supposed to become a ring. “They were awful,” Anastasiya explained ruefully, “but it was my first step to fall in love with miniatures.” She continued to experiment with clay, increasing her skills, and finding her focus in miniature food. Five years later, she began selling her creations, and she never has regretted that decision.
Her miniature foods are startlingly realistic, enough so that one’s mouth will water at the sight of them. “My first pieces were not as wonderful as I wanted them to be,” she explained, “but for some reason people loved them. I live in Moscow, Russia, where there isn’t a big interest in miniatures, so I had to start selling worldwide right from the beginning.
Her intention is to create almost everything (other than food) from the materials in which they normally would be made, such as dishes of ceramic, and cutlery of metal. She also has the goal of bringing miniatures to everyone, even those who don't have dollhouses or do not collect miniatures, hoping that they will just enjoy them in their own right as tiny representations of real things. “I want to help bring miniatures to an even higher popularity level, and I have many ideas on how to accomplish that. I have a blog, which is totally new, and I want to share all my secrets there, making tutorials to teach people how to make miniatures. I try to do my best for my career as a miniaturist every single day, which  means that I constantly work hard at creating them, and at learning new techniques. I collaborate with popular food bloggers to ensure that my miniatures not only are well-made, but that they stay modern and attractive to people. It is very time consuming to work with social media, and nowadays that is the key to finding your audience.”
One clever creation is her crêpes with sour cream and berries (blueberries, raspberries, red currants) on a wooden board. “For this piece I was inspired by one amazing food blogger, Beata Lubas, whose work is an inspiration to me; she has an amazing photo of the crepes in her Instagram feed. I redesigned the composition a little bit, and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful miniatures I have ever made. I don’t work alone. I live with my boyfriend, and he helps me a lot, especially in making wooden parts for my miniatures. I love to use wood as the base for them, and he has more skill working with wood than I do. Everything was made by the hands of my boyfriend and me; I made all the food pieces, and he made the little board of bocote wood (Mexican rosewood). The hardest part of this miniature was to make the tiny raspberries. I always make each berry from a small ball (less than 1mm in diameter). I detail every single berry for probably an hour to achieve the most realistic look.” The piece is available in her in her MayLina Miniatures shop, at a price of $18. 
Her workplace is her apartment. “I have a wide windowsill under the largest window, so I have lots of light and space in which to work, but eventually I want to have my own studio. I have an Etsy shop online, called MayLina Miniatures, to merchandise my pieces, which sell from about $10 to $20 each. There are a lot of tools I can't live without, but I think, the most useful tool for me is a needle. I even have a special holder for it to make the work more comfortable. I use 
Part of Anastasiya’s artistry is using shading to render realism. “I always love to bring some color to my miniatures, especially to pastry. I make them the light dough color of polymer clay, and then I add ‘baked’ color with pastels to make the miniature as realistic as possible.” 
Her favorite part of every piece she makes is to look at closeup photos of them, where she really can see all the textures and tiny details. “It is like magic for me to see that my piece is even more true to life than I thought. I love it when one wonders if it a real piece or a miniature.”
it in every miniature I create. With a needle one can achieve almost every kind of texture desired.”
She takes her work very seriously. “My family have always loved the things I made, but I don’t think that they take it seriously as my real job. I need to do my best to prove that it is serious work, and not just a hobby.”
Anastasiya often looks to the Internet for ideas. “Instagram and Pinterest are my oceans of inspiration right now. There one can find many great miniature artists, and, what is important for me, a lot of food bloggers. I often use their photos as references to create my own miniature collections.”
She presently does not teach workshops, but is considering the prospect of doing that in the future, and is reading information about how to teach effectively. She also is making plans for her next collection of miniatures, which she said was inspired by another food blogger, Lore Salas. “She has wonderfully amazing desserts with very interesting textures, so I am happy to have a chance to recreate them in miniature theme.”

Contact Information:
Name: Anastasiya Ivanova
Business name: MayLina
Contact information (for in-office use only):
Email: work@maylina.ru
Phone: 8-916-218-77-95
Address: Russia, Moscow area, Krasnogorsk, Avangardnaya st, 4, 227