About
My name is Zöe Birrell and I am a self employed artist, founder and sole employee of Sedition Minis. My education and background are in the arts having studied fine art photography and sculpture, ceramics, photojournalism, and music. Making art is part of who I am and fundamental for me to express myself and communicate and get stuff out of my head, in two words - be healthy. I have been a practicing artist since the early 90's.
I got into painting minis and miniature art through a love of board games and have been hooked ever since. Sedition Minis started as a seed of an idea when I found myself spending more and more time doing miniature art than any other form of art. Deciding to turn this into my main income was a scary and exciting shift in my life and I am glad to have you along for the journey.
I am a pretty transient person both in my physical location and in my focus within my practice so you will see a fluctuation over time in the mediums I work in and the products I offer up. This has to do with where I am at a particular time and the access I have to workshops and a desire to keep my brain engaged and interested in my practice. I love exploring and experimenting with different styles and pushing myself to learn new things, so even if you don’t see exactly what you are after get in touch and we can see if it is something I can do.
Sedition Minis was born out of a desire to be more in tune with my creative self and make a living from art as well as break free from some of the trappings of the capitalist hierarchy and of working for others. At its core is a desire and love for creating unique custom pieces that will be treasured and/or have a meaning or purpose to them, along side working on bespoke and premium miniature painting commissions for individuals.
I chose the name sedition because I like the word. It reflects and constantly reminds me of my commitment to follow my heart and make things I care about which are important and to not conform to the status quo of what a miniature painter or a business should be.
I put a lot of love and time into every custom miniature piece, and miniature painting commission I work on as I aim to make works that will be treasured and kept. This also stems from me being a diehard perfectionist and wanting to work ethically and sustainably.
Ethics
Sedition minis is 100% vegan business using only non animal derived and non animal tested paints, materials and brushes. This year I'm really happy to have been able to join the Vegan Trader Union, if you would like to know more about please click here.
Representation is important to me in my work and as such I reserve the right to refuse commissions of any miniature pieces I consider to be derogatory to other.
I employ as many sustainable practices in studio taking care how I dispose of paint contaminated water and reducing waste as much as possible. This caries over into how I package orders and I will normally always use recycled packaging. As the business grows this may be something I have to revisit for practical reasons but I will always aim to work as sustainably as I can.
Over consumption and collecting an extensive stock of miniatures to paint is another area where Sedition Minis strives to work ethically where ever possible using recicled or natural materials in the production of bases etc.
The question of sustainability within the miniature world is an interesting one as to a great extent games and miniatures are luxury items made of plastic in China so by their very nature have a massive footprint. I don’t have any answers here on this and will probably dedicate many a blog posts to the subject.
Aims
My aims are simple to provide a premium miniature painting service, working in a sustainable and ethical way.
To make work that contributes to society in some small way even if at times that simply means putting a smile on someone’s face when they are having a bad day.
To always place this above profit.
To create a healthy and safe work environment in which I can pay myself a living wage.
