Somehow, painting little toys changed my life.

Miniature figurines of a rat archer and a woman in a red dress holding a mug and a scroll.

…and taught me about patience, growth, and that achievements and goals don’t always align.

(Pictured: my first mini from Oct 2019, to one from May 2025)

My highest point was also one of my lowest.

At a local painting contest in 2023, a few years into hobby, I’d finally achieved perfect scores in all 4 categories I’d entered, with a few shiny trophies to boot. But my head was spinning. I could only think about what I was “supposed” to do next.

And I realized I’d lost the plot.

Ambition had overtaken my love for creation.

And it took a while to recover.

Collection of miniature fantasy-themed figurines on black wooden bases, including a musician girl, a desert princess named Nahla, and a blue-colored mystical character surrounded by desert rocks and plants.

Oddly, I think it was my childhood love of animation that got me into miniature painting. The gray plastic was soulless, like a piece of paper. Once color was applied, these little representations of people became characters- they had life and story, just like when my cartoons started to dance across the screen with Adobe Flash in my younger years.

I became transfixed. I didn’t just work on refining the craft of painting- I began to sculpt, create dioramas, and teach others to do it, too. The more people who were inspired to create, the more joy and stories were being put out into the world. And I’m blessed to have a hand in it.

Series of four fantasy character figurines, each dressed as a warrior woman with long hair, wearing pink and brown dresses, with a small mug in hand, and showing different poses and expressions.

Artistry is the closest thing we’ve got to magic- and being able to take an idea from a sketch, to an illustration, to a self-sculpted digital 3D object, to printed figurine in a little under a weekend made me feel like an actual wizard.

My issue is when I started to seek meaning in the wrong things. I wanted to feel important. I assumed that feeling would come with the one thing I’d always been taught showed success: numbers and metrics.

Here are some of mine.

It wasn’t until much later that I realized the last category was the good stuff- and while less measurable, had far, far more heart.

  • ReaperCon 2025: 2nd Best in Show | Best Reaper Entry

    ReaperCon 2025: Golden Sophie (1st Place, Diorama Category)

    ReaperCon 2025: Golden Maelee (1st Place, Bombshell Miniatures)

    ReaperCon 2024: Gold “Crowphy” (1st Place, Kawna Miniatures, Diorama Category)

    ReaperCon 2024: Lunette’s Choice, Silver (2nd Place, Moonlight Miniatures Entry)

    ReaperCon 2023: Golden Sophie (1st Place, Diorama Category)

    ReaperCon 2023: Midknight Heroes Chibi Adult Silver (2nd Place Chibi)

    Reaper Miniatures 23rd Quarterly Contest (2023): 1st Place

    Reaper Miniatures: Pathfinder Painting Contest (2020): 4th Place

  • ReaperCon 2025: Gold (Open)

    ReaperCon 2025: Gold (Diorama)

    ReaperCon 2025: Gold (Painters)

    ReaperCon 2024: Gold (Open)

    ReaperCon 2024: Gold (Painters)

    ReaperCon 2024: Silver (Diorama)

    ReaperCon 2023: Gold (Open)

    ReaperCon 2023: Gold (Diorama)

    ReaperCon 2023: Gold (Painters)

    ReaperCon 2023: Gold (Ordnance)

    ReaperCon 2022: Gold (Open)

    ReaperCon 2022: Silver (Diorama)

    ReaperCon 2022: Silver (Painters)

    ReaperCon 2022: Bronze (Ordnance)

  • Helped instigate the creation of a “Dire Turducken” via Reaper Miniatures, which ended up being their best selling miniature of 2024.

    Founded “The Cult of Burgundy Wine”, named after Reaper Miniatures’ paint color, SKU 09025 Burgundy Wine. As of Fall 2025, it’s gaining new members on the daily, and there’s official “The Cult of Burgundy Wine” themed merch, available on Reaper Miniatures’ Tee Public.

    Pranked the ReaperCon 2025 contest judging team with the question “what would it take to get every possible judge to recuse themselves on a single entry?”… while I was also in the room as a featured judge.

    Featured as a guest (and in spirit through running gags) on various web series and livestreams, including for Reaper Miniatures, Moonlight Miniatures, Listening to Paint Dry, and Felicia Day’s Twitch channel.

    Inspired a number of humorous contest entries- including an entry at the costume contest- over the past few ReaperCons. Awards are nice- but having a community member personally name you in their contest entry (which was then selected as the judging panels’ favorite entry) is an honor far beyond words.

    Created a painting guide book that both went viral and had a 100% upvote rate on reddit. Hot dang.

And from that point, I found the most important lesson:

REMEMBER THE LOVE.

Too often we forget the human. We forget the emotional value. We forget the real impact we have on each other.

We chase numbers- EBITA, profit, net worth, GDP, KPI… but lose the why. Without heart, no product, or experience, UI, interaction, or hobby will feel genuine and therefore, not nearly as valuable. And because of my little hobby, I was reminded what can make something, and someone, really shine. I pledge that to put that feeling in all of my work, and I pledge to give that same spark to yours.

Thanks for reading,

Cara

Miniature figurine of a female spellcaster, labeled Lunette, holding a staff with a blue gem and a small red dragon perched on her shoulder, wearing ornate purple and gold armor.

(Don’t be fooled- she’s only two inches tall!)