A three-foot-long replica of the Reynolda House Museum of American Art sits on a table in the center of Lin Barnhardt’s basement art studio in Mount Pleasant. The hand-painted clay model looks identical to the actual museum in Winston-Salem, down to the intricate windowpanes and the three different shades of green that imitate the Italian-style shingles that Katharine Reynolds selected herself. Barnhardt spent more than 100 hours scaling, shaping, painting, and firing the piece.
The miniature Reynolda House is not the only masterpiece Barnhardt has created. Other ceramic projects like birdhouses and ornaments cover the shelves in his studio, too.
Lin Barnhardt spent hundreds of hours creating tiny reproductions like Körner’s Folly. photograph by Brian Gomsak
Barnhardt has been an artist for most of his life, but in 1996, the inspiration to sculpt buildings came to him in a dream. When he woke up, he knew that he’d discovered his next artistic endeavor. At the time, he didn’t know that this idea would lead to many hours in his studio, re-creating state landmarks like poet Carl Sandburg’s house and the Old Well at Davidson College.
Using measurements and photos gathered from the sites, he has created dozens of sculptures, from a small homestead ornament that adorned the 2001 White House Christmas tree to the three-story Lucas Mansion in Hiddenite. Each day, he makes the short journey down to his studio and welcomes the big challenge of thinking small.
To learn more about Lin Barnhardt’s work, visit linbarnhardt.com.
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