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com. I don’t get into creating realistic food items straight away. Recently my friend was over while I was creating the paneer tikka miniature, and she started picking up everything and pretended to eat it. However, I have spoken to a few restaurants and China two color injection molding machine brands about creating miniatures for them. You get everything there. Also, even though I’ve made them before, I don’t really enjoy making cars, cameras, and figurines.

What is the most challenging miniature you've created?The butter that’s on top of the pav bhaji miniature was challenging. Later I realised I could make it look more realistic, challenge myself, and turn it into a serious art form. Even the ramen bowl was quite challenging.)Take us through the process of making one of your miniatures.What's the most memorable compliment you've received for your work?When people say, “I thought it was real”, that’s the biggest compliment for me. Challenge yourself and be consistent. They didn’t even know something like this was possible.Do you have a favourite area in Mumbai?Apart from Wadala where I live, I love Bandra village. I got on to Instagram on my friends’ insistence, and then people started contacting me to ask if they could buy the miniatures. It’s funny, but the fact that she wants to eat it even though it’s not real makes me very happy. I usually work on 10 pieces at a time, because if I make more it gets monotonous and hampers my creativity. I just wanted to make cute things that could be used by people. I feel bad when buildings go for redevelopment to make way for monotonous structures.Any words of advice for budding miniature artists?Just go for it. The plan was never to sell, but eventually I started doing that. Everything else on the plate was ready, but I had to experiment a lot for the butter.Why food?I’m a big foodie. It’s the tiniest bit, but it took the most amount of time.

I even like the stretch of art deco buildings along Marine Drive. I used to make miniature flowers out of either play dough or regular atta. And with this I can combine two things I love – food and art. Whenever I’m in that area, I always take a walk to look at the buildings. Don’t compare yourself to anybody else. Whenever I’m out of ideas, I refer to that list of suggestions. I don’t have the actual food in front of me, so I have to replicate by referring to an image. (Tapasya sells miniatures from her Instagram page. It’s very important to be patient, because there is a lot of research involved.How do you decide what you want to create next?I get a lot of suggestions from people who contact me on social media. Even in school I would create art from waste materials like plastic bottles.— By arrangement with thecitystory. And I’m very particular about quality. Polymer clay contains particles of plastic and hardens on baking. Even after finding the image, I have to sit with it for a while to study and understand the colours and textures, because they are essential to making the miniature look realistic. That was a big revelation, and I was very excited about it. I started doing my own research and began experimenting.What next for Lovely Little Charms?I usually just go with the flow and take up opportunities that come along. So even if there’s a minor mistake.

I do it again. So let’s see how that goes. I have actually written down the exact proportion of different coloured clay that I had to mix to get this shade.When did you start making miniatures, and what inspired you?I was always very creative and inclined towards art.What’s the best place in Mumbai to procure art materials?The area around Crawford market, especially Abdul Rehman Street. When I initially tried to mix white and yellow to get the pale shade, it looked like a very weird neon green because of the chemical composition of the clay. When I was in my third year of architecture, I saw a video online that introduced me to polymer clay. Since I’ve been an architecture student, I tend to pay attention to buildings and structure, and there are some beautiful old buildings on the back of Colaba Causeway. It was very tough to get that colour right. A lot of the times its food that I really like. I also like Colaba. The first miniatures I made were a cookie, a doughnut and a bear on top of paperclips. Otherwise, I always check Pinterest for inspiration. It takes 3 to 4 days of work to complete one batch.When and how did you decide to turn this into a business?When I initially showed my friends the miniatures I had made, they were blown away. What is your frame of mind when you create?I usually work at night, because I can concentrate better when it’s quiet