Abundance	A Little Advice	Papillon	Reluctance	The Dance
The Red Thread

Bio
I am an illustrator by profession. I have worked for years illustrating greeting cards and children’s books. My career began at Hallmark Cards and continues to this day as a crazed freelancer!

About nine years ago I had a friend attempt to invite me to a doll group that she attended. In my head I pictured toilet paper cozy dolls and wanted to avoid it if at all possible. I bumped into this friend a few months later in a bead store where she was buying beads to complete a doll she was working on. The doll was from a pattern by Christine Shively. I was absolutely entranced! At that moment I fell in love with the art of doll making and it has been bliss ever since!

For me, the joy of doll making is in the process. Figurative work allows me to combine my love of the human figure, color, texture and the ability to illustrate a moment. My first doll making attempts were purely cloth, but as I continue to work and grow I have found that the process of sculpting, whether it be needle sculpting or working with clay, has become an integral part of my work.

My work tends to be illustrative. I want my work to engage the viewer and draw them into a world where beauty and childhood fantasy are commonplace and accessible. I usually begin with several drawings and palette of colors in mind. I tend to work in analogous color schemes as it allows me to use fabrics that are complicated and textural without appearing too busy on such a small scale.

I then build an armature, striving to capture the motion and grace of  the human form. This in some ways is the most fascinating part of the process, watching the doll emerge and begin to take on form and shape.