my newest doll, OOAK 19 in.

Zoey and friend

Biography.

I live in small rural community in Arkansas with my husband, of 37 years, and ,son, Bryan.  We  raise a few cows, have three spoiled rotten cats , and a very loyal dog, Joe. 

 My life is pretty much ordinary, except for the fact that I make dolls!

To me , that is magical. "I make dolls!"

When I was a little girl, I would never in my wildest dreams have believed that I would be able to create such a wonderful thing as a doll.

Growing up in a family of five children , there wasn't a lot of money to be spend for toys.

Oh, every Christmas, my little sister , Cathy , and I would get some sort of a doll.

And , we made doll clothes, and played house with our dolls.

And when we were lucky, we got to go to Ben Franklin Store and buy paper dolls.

I remember having a whole dollar one Saturday and being able to buy a box which contained

bride paper dolls.  Funny how some things stick in your mind.

But , you know,  for years, the part of me that loved dolls was dormant.

I think dolls always  fascinated me, but , I never collected dolls.  I just loved to look at them if I were to see them in stores or books.

One day, just a few years ago, I bought a book about the history of doll making. For some reason, this book caught my eye.  I suspect it was because it was marked down , and it had photos of dolls on the cover.  That night when I was reading the book, I told my husband, "you know, I think I can make dolls."

I could sew; I had been sewing since I was a little girl making Barbie clothes.

And I had made my share of cloth dolls, and rabbits , and that sort of thing.

So,  as I looked at this book, I thought, if I could find a medium that I could make heads, and limbs from, then I could make real dolls!

At that time , I didn know polymer clay could be used to make dolls. 

But, since, Walmart , was the only place I knew to look, I went there and found Super Sculpey clay.  And I just started making  lopsided heads and clumbsy looking hands and feet out of that. 

Evenutually, I found, a few books which gave me a little bit better idea about sculpting.

And one day, I discovered some listings on ebay called "ooak babies", and when I looked at those babies, I knew that I wanted to make them. 

The ideas for my babies and toddlers come from everywhere.  I can see a child in a store or a  baby in a magazine ,and that can influence my next sculpt.

My dolls are small, they range in size from 2.5 inches to 10 inches( lately, I have been doing some larger dolls). I use quality products when making my dolls.  The clay that I like best is ProSculpt clay. I has just the right consistancy for sculpting the tiny details. 

Usually, my dolls have glass eyes , or painted eyes.  I like to use mohair for their hair, which I glue in small sections all over the head.  This process alone is very time cosuming.

I also design and sew most of the clothes for my dolls.

I began working with the clay in 2002.   Now, I have made well over 500 dolls and sold them, mostly on Ebay and my website.  A couple of years ago, Diane Drake, who owns a doll shop in Greenwich , Ct.   saw my dolls on a web site.   She wrote to me and ask if she could buy some of my dolls and sell them in her store. I was thrilled!    Diane has been a great encouragement to me and still sells some of my one of kind dolls in her store.  Her store name is Diane's Doll Shoppe.

I took my first sculpting class just this past year from world class artist, Jack Johnston.

The most important things I have learned about sculpting is that it takes practice, practice, practice, and that there is always something new to learn.

I am a proud member of the Professional Doll Makers' Art Guild and the Ooak Guild.

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