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Look closely: It's art in miniature at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art

 
Enchantment,
an oil by Gail MacArgel of St. Peters, Mo., is one of 796 works by 204 artists on display at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College’s Tarpon Springs campus.
Enchantment, an oil by Gail MacArgel of St. Peters, Mo., is one of 796 works by 204 artists on display at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College’s Tarpon Springs campus.
Published Jan. 25, 2013

TARPON SPRINGS

Imagine the details of an artwork so intricate a magnifying glass is needed to see them clearly.

Magnifying glasses will be available to visitors at the Miniature Art Society of Florida's annual Miniature Art Exhibit for those who want to more closely examine the small award-winning paintings, carvings, drawings and porcelain works from around the world.

The judged show is at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art now through Feb. 10 on the Tarpon Springs campus of St. Petersburg College, 600 Klosterman Road. Some 800 works by 204 artists from 10 countries and 31 states are on display, as well as the society's permanent collection of 100 miniatures and the Miniature Artists of America's Traveling Exhibition.

At the show, visitors may chat with and observe the artists at work. The demonstrating artists are from Florida and other states, as well as England and Canada.

Show chair Kay Petryszak is president of the Florida Miniature Art Society and an international award-winning miniature artist.

"Technology may be taking over the world," Petryszak said, "but an exquisite original work of miniature art still has to be created by hand. The talent, imagination, skill and patience of these artists continue to produce amazing and breathtaking gems."

The show's top prize winner, "A Woman's Touch" by Luann Houser of Aurora, Ind., has been selected for the Florida society's permanent collection.

Other winners include "The Royal Flueologist" by William Mundy of Oxfordshire, UK, and "Venetian Carnival" by Irina Kouznetsova of Quebec, Canada.