Common Milkweed

Lou Greiner has been the director of a preschool, a teacher at Community School, been an events planner in the school system, and has conducted many workshops. But her passion is creating miniature sculptures with polymer clay.

Greiner was a sculpture major at Virginia Commonwealth University where she got experience using metal, porcelain, and fiberglass. She know spends her time making life-like miniature sculptures of nature- all native of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"It's taken me a long time to develop this," Greiner said, who produced her first miniature clay scene thirty years ago. "I got a good background there (VCU). I was always amazed by 3D. I particularly like small things. I originally did small things for dollhouses in Junior High, so I really started doing this before college. I tell people I'm a 'closet miniaturist'."

Before Greiner began using clay for her miniature pieces, she tried other mediums that never seemed to work just right or take on the life-like look and feel she was going for. She started out working with bread dough, an old Mexican recipe. Although she liked the feel of it, she wasn't happy with it.

"To sell it, you want it to last," she said. "I began researching and began using polymer, which looks like porcelain. It's been around for 70 some years in Europe, but many think it's new in the U.S. It gave me the feel of the other (bread dough) and it lasts forever.

Greiner said it allowed her to make the petals and butterfly wings with her fingerprints.

"Porcelain doesn't show the delicateness of reality," she said.

She then decided that her artwork had to have casing because it was so delicate. But not just any casing would do. She uses hand blown glass and works the shape of her sculpture around the shape of the glass, giving each piece a unique look from the rest.

It takes Greiener about three weeks to a month to complete just one of her minature sculptures, taking time to make each petal, leaf, insect, blade of grass and moss.

"It's just a relaxing thing for me."

Greiner never jumps right into a piece. Often she spends months researching and taking photographs of flowers and other native plants, rocks, insects, small reptiles, etc. that she uses in her artwork. The bigger sculputures can take up to six months to complete.

"It's a challenge -- to do something different -- that is the fun of it. I most enjoy the research and getting out in the field. Getting the piece together, I break it down into small incriminates. If i knew I had to do 100 pieces, I wouldn't want to do it."

"I like the concept of documenting, especially the natives. I think it has a value and people appreciate it. I particularly like to document the Blue Ridge. My wildlife is below your knees."

Recently she was approached by a young artist, who wanted her to design a particular exhibit to be displayed at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. With only two months to complete her new art project, Greiner dropped everything and worked solely on the piece for the Smithsonian.

"Two of the subjects were in this area, but hadn't bloomed yet," Greiner said, which created a problem. "Photos just aren't the same as the real thing. The colors are not the same. They do not translate the same. Plants have a personality too. If you want to express that, you have to see it."

The display with her clay miniatures is on permanent display at the Smithsonian. It was installed in 2008 in the National History Museum.

Greiner grew up in the Roanoke area and believes her passion for art came from her mother, Nancy Wellons, who was a well-known painter in the area.

"You learn a lot about it when you grow up with it," she said. "My grandmother created nature scenes, with bird and orchids, my grandfather's relative made hand painted miniatures, and my mom did architectural design."

Greiner has won many awards and participated in wildlife and minature shows which include, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, Waterfowl show in Easton, Md.; Florida's renowned Miniature Art Society show, Sculpture in the South, and the Wildlife Art Expo at the Henry Doorly Zoon in Omaha, Neb.

If you are interested in some of Greiner's miniature sculptures, you can contact her at louart.min@rev.net. Her Web site also has photographs of her work and explains the process at louartmin.com.