After I had put up a few simple instructions on how I did some of my plants, I decided to look around the web and see how other people did tutorials, etc. After wandering over the web for a couple of hours, I started thinking about this topic.
The one thing that the internet has messed up for miniaturists is workshops and classes. It makes it easier to have access to all kinds of miniatures, but you cannot get the one on one attention that you would get from shop owners and organizations that have gone from store front and personal clubs to internet sales and groups.
This is also true for many types of hobbies. I have talked to model railroaders and they tell me that it is exactly the same thing for them and I don't believe we are alone. The number of store fronts have declined drastically, the number and attendance at shows are down, internet sales are up, but there are a few big sites that are owned by the people who used to be the wholesalers for the shops that they have driven out of business because they sell online at almost wholesale price. I cannot really blame the wholesalers, because they would be out of business if they hadn't taken that course. Some tried, I know. It is a good market for specialized craft persons, but it is bad for the rest of the hobby world.
There are more people marginally in the hobby, but marginal is a good word to describe their interest. They are alone, get frustrated and quit. Hobbies are more fun if you are part of a group where you can share. There are Facebook pages and other places where people take pictures, talk about and share their stuff, but there are few real conversations. Generally they are places where people go to show off what they have done so they can get praised. That is important, but what is even more important is people need help getting better in the hobby if we want it to grow.
The problem with internet is, even though a lot of the information is out there, there is no way to filter it out among the thousands of sites that exist, the few sites that can really help you learn something new. I found over 30 sites in less than 15 minutes that all taught you how to cut up aquarium plastic plants to make all the plants that you need for your dollhouse. None of them seemed to be copies of each other either. If I found that many, there has to be hundreds out there. I found none that had some information that I did not already know and some that gave really bad information (it would not last, but would fall apart in less than a year, it was supposedly scale but was not, etc.). People are trying.
We don't need to reinvent the wheel hundreds of times and workshops and classes can help us prevent that. I used to go to NAME (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) National every year, and workshops at local shows whenever I could, when I was able physically. The classes at NAME were fantastic. You would make something and learn techniques that you would have never thought of on your own. I always picked the most expensive classes because the instructors were the most experienced and said up front that they were teaching techniques. As long as you did not copy their project exactly to sell (a few even said up front that they did not care if you sold their product as long as you priced it fairly!), they would help you improve the quality of what you did produce for resale. They were open to questions about how they did things and why. Some of them would even help with questions on running a miniature business and selling things. They would honestly and in a friendly manner criticize your work but never put anyone down. There would be all levels in a class and the object was for everyone to improve their skills from their current level, not to compare their end result with someone else's. There is no way that an internet class, even a live video class can do all that.
I learned more about flower design and construction techniques in one class taught by Helen David many years ago, than every tutorial combined that I have seen on the internet, ever.
Everyone, if you get a chance, go to a show, go to a workshop, go into a store that sells miniatures (not Hobby Lobby, etc.), look around your area and see if there is a local group and join it if you can, become part of a local community. Check out NAME's Facebook page and join it. You don't need to be a member to join their page. The internet is great, but there is so much more out there, it is a pity to miss it.
The one thing that the internet has messed up for miniaturists is workshops and classes. It makes it easier to have access to all kinds of miniatures, but you cannot get the one on one attention that you would get from shop owners and organizations that have gone from store front and personal clubs to internet sales and groups.
This is also true for many types of hobbies. I have talked to model railroaders and they tell me that it is exactly the same thing for them and I don't believe we are alone. The number of store fronts have declined drastically, the number and attendance at shows are down, internet sales are up, but there are a few big sites that are owned by the people who used to be the wholesalers for the shops that they have driven out of business because they sell online at almost wholesale price. I cannot really blame the wholesalers, because they would be out of business if they hadn't taken that course. Some tried, I know. It is a good market for specialized craft persons, but it is bad for the rest of the hobby world.
There are more people marginally in the hobby, but marginal is a good word to describe their interest. They are alone, get frustrated and quit. Hobbies are more fun if you are part of a group where you can share. There are Facebook pages and other places where people take pictures, talk about and share their stuff, but there are few real conversations. Generally they are places where people go to show off what they have done so they can get praised. That is important, but what is even more important is people need help getting better in the hobby if we want it to grow.
The problem with internet is, even though a lot of the information is out there, there is no way to filter it out among the thousands of sites that exist, the few sites that can really help you learn something new. I found over 30 sites in less than 15 minutes that all taught you how to cut up aquarium plastic plants to make all the plants that you need for your dollhouse. None of them seemed to be copies of each other either. If I found that many, there has to be hundreds out there. I found none that had some information that I did not already know and some that gave really bad information (it would not last, but would fall apart in less than a year, it was supposedly scale but was not, etc.). People are trying.
We don't need to reinvent the wheel hundreds of times and workshops and classes can help us prevent that. I used to go to NAME (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) National every year, and workshops at local shows whenever I could, when I was able physically. The classes at NAME were fantastic. You would make something and learn techniques that you would have never thought of on your own. I always picked the most expensive classes because the instructors were the most experienced and said up front that they were teaching techniques. As long as you did not copy their project exactly to sell (a few even said up front that they did not care if you sold their product as long as you priced it fairly!), they would help you improve the quality of what you did produce for resale. They were open to questions about how they did things and why. Some of them would even help with questions on running a miniature business and selling things. They would honestly and in a friendly manner criticize your work but never put anyone down. There would be all levels in a class and the object was for everyone to improve their skills from their current level, not to compare their end result with someone else's. There is no way that an internet class, even a live video class can do all that.
I learned more about flower design and construction techniques in one class taught by Helen David many years ago, than every tutorial combined that I have seen on the internet, ever.
Everyone, if you get a chance, go to a show, go to a workshop, go into a store that sells miniatures (not Hobby Lobby, etc.), look around your area and see if there is a local group and join it if you can, become part of a local community. Check out NAME's Facebook page and join it. You don't need to be a member to join their page. The internet is great, but there is so much more out there, it is a pity to miss it.
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