“YOUR BRAIN IS ALWAYS TAKING DICTATION. I’M JUST
COPYING WHAT’S IN MY MIND’S EYE.” — Maritza Moran
Opposite:A sceneintheclassicfilmSense and Sensibility, when the women
come into the house and hang their belong-
ings on the hall rack, inspired this vignette.
Maritza’s handiwork includes tiny paint-
ings and hand-stitched cloth pieces.
museum and seeing the high price tags on
the scaled-down décor in the gift shop, this
self-taught artisan simply painted her own.
When she returned to the museum to show
them her work, they bought every piece and
commissioned more. From there, her path
as a miniaturist was set.
Traveling the trade-show circuit, where
enthusiasts could see the exquisite detail of
her wares, earned Maritza a devoted fol-
lowing among collectors who particularly
appreciate her skill for painting fabrics,
especially silk. She crafts most all of her
furniture from scratch, such as a petite
harpsichord complete with strings, and
often scrutinizes period fi lms for inspira-
tion. Interestingly, many of Maritza’s ideas
come from vivid reveries while she sleeps.
“I am very lucid in the dreams, and I am lit-
erally watching myself work on something,”
she explains. “When I wake up, I never for-
get a detail, and I cannot get it off my mind
until I make the piece.”victoriamag.com 94