The Spectacular Miniatures of Galia Bazylko McLaughlin

As is frequently the case, today I was doing some web research for something totally different and stumbled upon the website for a magnificent doll artist whose work I admired up at the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art in Bellevue Washington.

"The exquisite artworks and miniature figures of Galia Bazylko McLaughlin have become legendary in miniature and doll collecting worlds over the past 30 years....her work may be found in international private collections and museums worldwide, including the Naples Museum of Art and George Washington's Mount Vernon. She has written over 35 articles for miniature and doll publications and has been featured in many books and magazines including Contemporary Doll, Aloha, and Miniature Collector. In 1980 she was elected to fellowship in the International Guild of Miniature Artisans (IGMA). Several of her major works are now on display in the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, including the 1"-1' scale 17th Century Russian Orthodox Cathedral which Galia built and created the entire interior for, including handpainted iconography throughout the entire setting.

Though born in Seattle, Washington, Galia's background was steeped in old-world aristocratic traditions....both her grandfathers were Russian Orthodox priests, and many family links with the Romanov regime gave her a deep sense of the beauty and lost arts and graces of former times. Galia was also gifted with wonderfully vibrant and culturally aware parents, who nurtured extensive learning and experiences in the arts and history from her earliest childhood, as well as extraordinary artistic talent within the family heritage......these combined to form the basis from which she in turn has nurtured her own branching and flowering of the many facets of art she has turned her mind and abilities to.

Artistic gifts as well as an interest in all things to do with the history of fashion and costume led to a major in Costume Studies and Textile Science at the University of Washington, where in the five year course of study Galia gained much knowledge of proper historical aspects of costume as well as an appreciation for the fine craftsmanship and construction of antique and vintage clothing."