Miniature Masterworks: Bonni Backe

May 8, 2017

It’s hard to believe that a miniature career could be born out of lack of ambition, but that’s just how Bonni Backe describes it. By her own admission, she was too intimidated to weave a full-size overshot coverlet, popular in the mid-1800s, so she pulled out some fine wool and silk and constructed a 1:12 scale version. Ambitious enough for us!

After years of working in the textile design business in New York City, Backe applies her tremendous talent to creating traditional, historic, and custom rugs, coverlets, blankets and table linens in 1:12 scale. Because the thread Backe uses is not proportional to her projects (it would be impossible to see!), she has to fool the viewer’s eye with the illusion of scale. And she does! She also shares her skills at the IGMA Guild School every summer.

Bonni Backe is one of over sixty artists participating in Miniature Masterworks, September 15-17, 2017.