Meet the woman behind a miniature world with a lifetime of stories

The stories behind Ann Ernst miniature creations are about as diverse as her own.

Ann Ernst, 82, has created about 20 intricate miniature scenes since the mid-1990s

David Irish CBC News Posted: Jul 27, 2018 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 27, 2018

Ann Ernst stands by the largest miniature in her dining room. (David Irish/CBC)

Ann Ernst insists it's just a coincidence that her cat, who likes to hop up on the dining room table amongher intricate miniature creations, is named Minni.

"It doesn't have a hidden meaning," Ernst said while surrounded in her Dartmouth, N.S., home by about20 of the scenes she's crafted since the mid-1990s.

The miniatures fill Ernst's dining room. Her children had to bring most of the miniatures seen here from their own homes for the photo shoot. Ernst has given many to her children. (David Irish/CBC)

The 82-year-old picked up the hobby later in lifeand has become a prolific creator. Each piece is lovingly packed with colour, characters and countless details some of which can only be spotted with Ernst as a tour guide through her miniature world.

"I just feel that if there's not a story there then I can't do it," she said.

"I have to have something that sort of hangs it together before I can create something. It's just got to have some meaning."

This scene has a small speaker built into the top, which plays the Marty Robbins song, 'A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation.' The figurine on the far right, sporting a white coat and carrying a pink carnation, is attempting to woo his prom date back from another man. (David Irish/CBC)

In the case of 'Grannie's Garden Shed,' the roof opens up to reveal flowering pots, muddy boots, plants and shelves filled with gardening tools.

Each miniature or mini as she calls them has a narrative. Working at one-twelfth the scale to real life, she creates most of what goes into the minis from scratch.Anything she can't build herselfshe buys online.

It's why her family likes to call her techno-Granny.

"Heaven help us with the [U.S.-imposed] tariffs," she said with a laugh.

Ernst has crafted scenes in the bases of several lamps like this one. From her imagination, she created 'The Rainbow Bridge,' which she says depicts a place where pets go after they pass away to wait for their owners. (David Irish/CBC)

Getting the materials she needs isn't as easy as it used to be. Local stores dedicated to the hobby have closed. The closest place to order is The Little Dollhouse Company in Toronto, Ernst said.

"There's just nothing here in Nova Scotia that you can just say, 'Oh,I'm just goingrun over to the miniature store. I need a dresser. I need a table.I need a sideboard or something.' Youjust can't do it."

A stage actress, who Ernst says doubles as the spokeswoman for a fictional cosmetics brand, stands in front of her makeup mirror.

From selling veggies to green fees

The stories behind her scenes are about as diverse as her own. Ernstgrewup a fisherman's daughter in Pleasantville, N.S.

Later in life, her family openedaretail market where they sold vegetables grown on their 20-hectare farmin the Westphal area of Dartmouth, where she lives today.

"Then we got tired of selling vegetables so we decided to build a golf course," said Ernst, adding no one in their family was a golfer at the time.

Ernst says she put a spin on the name of her hometown of Pleasantville, N.S., when she called this scene Pleasant Valley Public Library. She says that was before she knew there were actually several Pleasant Valleys located in Nova Scotia. (David Irish/CBC)

She said it was her family that carved Grandview Golf Course out of the landscape just down the road from her. She managed the course for 18 years. They sold it in 2006.

Since becoming enamored of the miniature world, she's joined the group Miniature Crafters of Nova Scotia.

"I've had my hands in a lot of little things," she said.

From Ernst's largest model, Victoria Small greets her groom on her wedding day. (David Irish/CBC)

Not for sale

Ernst has no interest in selling her work. Instead, she's given many of her works to her children.

But that means they each have a piece of their mother at home, since Ernst likes to includea detailfrom her life into each one. One such detail includes a photo of her husband of 62 years, in his youngerRCMP days, framed on a shelf.

The Bridal Emporium is one of Ernst's larger scenes. (David Irish/CBC)

Ernst enjoys including small details from her own life. In Bridal Emporium, it's a picture of herself at her own wedding. (David Irish/CBC)

If anyone happens to gaze upon her creations, she just asks that they absorb the stories she's trying to convey.

"I would like them to think about what they're seeing and not just say, 'Isn't that cute,'" she said.

"There's more to it than that."

This scene is one of two that freeze-frame pivotal moments in the life of the female figurine. This is her engagement around the turn of the century. Note the hat she's wearing. (David Irish/CBC)

This scene depicts the same woman decades later after the death of her husband. The woman is trying on the hat she wore at her engagement. As she looks in the mirror, she sees an image of her younger self. (David Irish/CBC)

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