I grew up playing with fabric,
thread, and yarn. I learned to sew at an early age and made
clothes for dolls, hats and dresses for my mom, ties for
my dad, and clothes for myself. Then in high school I taught
myself to weave tapestries. As a junior in college, I spent
a year in Japan and had the opportunity to study weaving
at a kimono factory. I began designing dolls 20 years ago
after spending years both hand-spinning wool and tapestry
weaving.
Doll making has allowed me the opportunity
to explore my love of fabric. I am continually fascinated
by the techniques and fashions that our cultures have worn
to express themselves - from medieval and Renaissance clothing
to today's experiments in spinning stainless steel into thread.
I take my inspirations from nature in my garden, to people
walking down the street, and from my own personal experiences.
I make a wide variety of dolls, both production
pieces as well as one-of-a-kind dolls which have needle-sculpted
faces, often including articulated hands which have all five
fingers that are poseable and my own hand-printed and hand-painted
fabrics.
I also love fabric collage which not only
appears on my dolls' clothing but in collage cards as small
abstract studies or special seasonal cards, such as my favorites:
hearts for Valentines Day and Christmas trees for holiday
cards. |
