Bethany Voyages to Spain

Bethany, Prototype No. 3 by sculptor Toby Morgan is leaving me for her new home in Spain.

She has been carefully packaged ready for collection by the couriers so that her journey will be safe and she can arrive at her new home as beautiful as she is leaving me.

Now the nervous wait for feedback from her new owners.

Eastbourne Craft Fair - December 2009

Ceinwen is on a mission to raise the profile of reborn art and I have to agree that the only way to do that really is to "get out there" in as many ways as we all can to show people the art and talk about the work involved in creating our dolls. I am so sick of hearing about Channel Four's 'My Fake Baby' programme. It has been a real double edged sword that one and the bad side was not only sharp but tipped with poison. For every 1 person who has said to me 'oh yes I saw My Fake Baby and it got me started in the artform', I can show you another 5 that say 'oh yes I saw My Fake Baby and you women that make these dolls are all mental and need psychiatric help' or something equally insulting and unnecessary.

I don't have a problem with people not liking reborn dolls, there is a reason for the aversion, it's understandable and in a lot of ways seeing someone do a double take because they're not sure or even seeing someone recoil can be a real compliment because it means that the artist has achieved the aim of the art, to make something so lifelike and realistic that the viewer is not sure what they are seeing.

If the art is ever going to shake off the stigma that has been attached by that programme and the other negative and sensationalist press that the artform has received, then it has to be down to the artists to get out there and tell people about what we do and why we do it.

Anyway I toddled off to Brighton to accompany Ceinwen to a craft event she was having a table at in Eastbourne, not a doll show, just a craft fair, but it seemed like a good opportunity to show off our work to some people other than doll enthusiasts... you never know, we might create a few new doll enthusiasts along the way. The room in the basement of the hotel was lovely, very airy and bright and there was a real mix of crafts on show on the various stands, from jewellery, knitting and photography to an amazing stand by a lady who made fabric art dolls which were incredibly detailed and had whimsical poses.


Our stand was on the outer ring of the second exhibition room in a really nice central spot and from the moment we started setting out our display we were busy, there was a constant stream of visitors to our stand, before the show opened it was other stall holders coming over, fascinated by the dolls on display and so it went on all day, we talked to people all day about the art, what was involved in making the dolls, how time consuming the rooting of hair was and how long it took to paint. Ceinwen was on hand with a blank kit to show the starting point of the art so people could see how much work was involved.

I spent most of the day demonstrating rooting and people commented how I must have the patience of a saint. I don't think I do, I just love what I do!


The only downside to this event for me was the lack of wifi and mobile service, something about the building made it impossible to get a signal and unfortunately that meant that we lost out on a couple of prospective doll sales.

Still... our intention in being there was really about showing off the art and getting people interested and we definitely achieved that!

Upcoming Shows

I love going to doll shows, it's really good fun, exhausting mind you, but good fun, it's nice to be able to talk to other people about doll art without judgement. Doll Shows are one of the few places one can go and be totally into doll art without anyone looking at you as if you are somehow strange. I will be attending a number of doll shows in 2010 and having stands at some of them starting with

28th February 2010 10.30am – 4pm
Christine’s Dolls and Teddy Fair
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
Sutton Coldfield
B73 6AB

Admission: 2.50 16 and under Free
Website

So if you get a chance do pop along and come and say hello.

Prototype Prestige

One of the biggest coups for a reborn artist is being able to do a reborn a prototype, to a non reborner that probably doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, it is!

Just for the sake of clarity, when a sculptor has a new doll kit out on the market the first 2 or 3 test kits are called prototypes and those are very special, they are used to check for quality and for the promotion of the kit, the photos of those prototypes will be used tp promote the kit and hopefully help sell it to the rest of the reborning world. So of course those prototypes are really important. I mean, come on, no one is going to buy a kit if the prototype looks like the Baby of Frankenstein now are they?

So being asked to do a prototype is a very special event and a real compliment.

Bethany is a preemie sculpt by Toby Morgan a really sweet 14inch sculpt with a very preemie look and curled up limbs.

There is a bit of pressure of course to feel like you've done a good job on making a sculpt look good and in a lot of cases there is a lot of pressure on the artist to get prototypes done on time.

I think it takes a lot of determination and a huge amount of commitment on the part of an artist to do prototypes on a regular basis.

Prototypes in general sell at a premium because although there are a number of kits made from any one sculpt, even the limited edition sculpts, the first ones, the prototypes are so special that people want to have them.

I am so pleased with how Bethany has come out, she is perfectly proportioned and I have weighted her carefully to give her that new born floppiness.

Her hair is the softest best quality mohair from Slumberland Nursery in the softest baby brown and I rooted her eyelashes in the same soft mohair

Bethany is still looking for a home so if you would like to take her home click HERE

Doug Richards Meets Savannah

Savannah was reborn from a Tina Kewy sculpt "Newborn Cherish". Savannah is one of a limited edition run of this sculpt totalling 500, Savannah is number 431. This sculpt was delightful to work with and created a beautiful baby. I wanted to try working with a blonde fair skinned effect for Savannah, I've rarely seen this sculpt done blonde so I decided to do mine that way to see how she would look.



Savannah has 3/4 length arms and legs in Tina's very expressive style. I recently attended a Conference for people who run home based businesses run by Enterprise Nation. At the conference Savannah ended up on stage with Doug Richards.







Savannah is still available to buy click here.