All my dolls are collectable dolls.
They are all original works made by myself and are signed and dated on the doll itself underneath the clothing.
My dolls are made to a standard that will last and be able to be passed on to the next generation.
Collectable Dolls And Me
Amongst my favourite collectable dolls are the Lencis from Italy and Norah Wellings from UK which possess such a character and beauty and are an inspiration to me.
The very first collectable dolls I fell in love with were the antique dolls collection at the Harris museum in Preston when I was 6 years old. While mum went shopping I'd ask to be dropped off there. I would visit every week and then I would go to the toy shop and stare at the new Sasha Dolls. I thought these were the best dolls I'd seen yet, I wasn't wrong they are now highly collectable.
"Don't touch" the shopkeeper would say "you can't just come in and have a look". I took to annoying him by pressing my face against his window. I also loved The wooden Pelham Puppets around this time. Mum bought us the dragon, the cat, the drunken scottish man and pinocchio. These Pelham Puppets are now also collectable. I passed my Pelham cat onto my neice for her birthday.
I didn't pick up my obsession again until I was 40 although I have always had the odd dolls head in my home as an object d'art. I collect what I find on the streets and I have to take them home. The best are from NYC where I have found a baby jesus at christmas, a burnt haired doll head, a small wax head and the scariest baby doll head you have ever seen (to think that it was actually made and bought for a small child is quite bizarre).
When I was managing charity shops we used to get a lot of old plastic dolls that we just couldnt sell, 40 million toys are thrown away each year and most of it goes to landfill. Theres a lot of barbies on the scrapheap. One woman, Margaux Lange, is recycling barbies into jewellery. I love what she does.
One day in a charity shop I found a cloth head on a stick, no hair, just a beautiful simple painted face. I bought it for a pound. She resembled my friend, out of it I made a pop up cone doll and gave it her as a gift. I enjoyed the process of making this doll so much I bought a doll pattern off the internet and made a cloth doll. Not long later I was designing my own collectable dolls patterns and made other dolls which were quickly snapped up when I sold them in and for the charity shops. I spent around two years teaching myself doll making with the help of books, research, trial and error. I am now a full time doll artist making OOAK collectable dolls for commissions, on the internet and at Covent Gardens Market.
You are never too old for collectable dolls.
