Fairy-tale characters, as fragile as a childhood memory, which we can hold in our hands. Veliana Simeonova's paper miniatures bring us back to a world of magic, and beauty. The only way to keep this world is to look at it through the eyes of a child and then store it in our heart.

Blogger Veliana Simeonova gives body and soul to favorite childhood fairy tale characters. She makes them from papier-mâché, with the patience of a creator who wants to give the best to a child. We see Pippi Longstocking, Yan Bibyan, Alice and the Hatter, the Japanese Princess, the Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and many more.

“It is inevitable that fairy-tale characters are connected to my childhood memories and what I see today,” Veliana says. “Our world is changing; the worldview is changing, and our imagination is taking us in different directions. So the characters certainly have something from childhood, but also a lot from my imagination today.”

In making her miniature figures, Veliana sometimes uses her time to create a favorite fairy tale character, while in other cases she works on orders from clients. She first sketches the image, before making the skeleton of the miniature from wire and starting dressing it in paper. Special attention is paid to the eyes. In exception of the hair, which is made of wool, all other details are made of paper – clothes, hats, bouquets, briefcases, umbrellas.

“Characters whose stories I often go back to are of great sentimental value to me,” Veliana says. “These are Pippi Longstockings and the characters from the old Bulgarian fairy tales - they are probably the closest to my heart. But I love all the fairy tale characters I have made and also the ones that I am yet to make.”

Many of Veliana's creations are in private collections in Bulgaria, France, Italy, Morocco. Because of their fragility, they are stored behind glass. Recently, some of the fairy-tale characters came from abroad for the author's first solo exhibition, during which “adults with wide smiles made a journey to the child in them.”

“Paper is a fragile material, but the same applies to clay,” Veliana says. “Paper is a bit more special material because it is more difficult to handle. And I think in some way it also has to do something with the child in us as it is difficult to be manipulated. You know, kids can easily feel when something is false. But if I have to draw a parallel between childhood and paper, kids love to make origami or paper boats. From this point of view, paper is the first creative material a child comes across and perhaps subconsciously I was looking for it.”

Veliana’s world looks wonderful, but is also very fragile. That is why, if we do not preserve our childhood experiences, we would no longer be fairy tale characters.

“The message is that anyone can be a fairy-tale character as long as he or she wants it strongly enough and is able to imagine it,” Veliana says. “Sometimes we are frustrated by the lack of desire. Somehow we grow up very quickly and forget that we were children once. And we start to take life too seriously, we stop being amazed at the things around us, and this more or less hampers us.”

However, if we manage to live like fairy tale characters, our own fairy tale will always have a happy ending, because in the world of fairy tales, good overcomes evil.

English: Alexander Markov