All of my dolls are completely made by me using a pattern that I have developed through trial and error over the past several years. I have developed two basic dolls--one with a flat face and one with a sculpted face and I make them either 16 or 18 inches. Occasionally, I will make a larger doll that is 24 to 28 inches. All of my dolls are completely made from fabric--I never use any clays.

Dolls that are painted with acrylics take about 2 months to complete--oil painted dolls can take up to 6 months.  Though they are each made from the same basic pattern, you will find that no two will ever be alike. All face painting is done free-style and I let the personality of the doll emerge as I am painting. I use a cotton knit fabric for the head that allows me to further give shape to the head as I soft-sculpt the features and stuff the head.

There are many steps that go into the making of each doll. I start by cutting the pattern out of muslin and cotton knit fabric. The pieces are sewn together, stuffed and soft-sculpted. I then use a couple of coats of gesso over the head, shoulders, hands and feet letting each coat dry before applying the next. The next step is applying a mixture of acrylic modeling paste and gel medium over the gessoed parts. When this is dry, I thoroughly sand each part before applying another layer of gesso.  I repeat each of these two layers about 3 times carefully sanding between each layer.

Next I apply a coat of flesh colored paint and then I begin to use my acrylic or oil paint and paint the doll. After the paint dries, I spray a coat of acrylic sealer over the paint and let that dry for a day or two. Then I refine the features by painting over the acrylic. I find that by "over-painting", I can achieve a depth to the face.

When the features are to my liking, I begin applying coats of acrylic sealer, sanding with fine steel wool between each application. Usually I like to apply about 4 layers of acrylic sealer so that I can obtain as smooth a finish as possible.

During the time that the acrylic sealer is being applied, I start to create the costuming for each doll. I like to wait until I see their face before I decide the colors of the fabric and design that I will use for the dress, etc. Each dress is a design that would have been worn in the 1800's and I vary the dress design and fabric used for each doll.

As you can see, each of my dolls takes a considerable amount of time to complete.  Therefore, I am only able to make a limited number each year. Each is signed and dated.

I hope you will bookmark my site and visit often. I also would be pleased if you would use the link below to send me an email request to sign up for announcements of my new dolls when they are available.