I have been creating dolls for the past 21 years. Having studied art in college, specifically textile design I have always been attracted to collecting antique textiles. Making dolls has been a way to give these pieces a new life and to use my love of fantasy and the human form. Inspiration comes from many places....an antique applique, thecolors or image in an old childrens book illustration, the expression on a face.

Fantasy, especially fairies has always characterized my work as an artist. I spent from 1979 to 1996 working in collaboration with Susan Snodgrass. In the past five years I have been on a journey to find a new expression while continuing to create dolls that awaken the joy, spirit and imagination of childhood. I am exploring feelings of romance, sensuality, power and passion.

Learning to make dolls has been an evolutionary process. I am still learning. In the beginning my former partner Susan Snodgrass and I used porcelain parts made by Sylvia Mobley. Eventually Sylvia taught me the traditional porcelain doll making process and over the years I have created my own style and techniques. Up until a few years ago I always used premade dollmakers porcelain flesh. I now like to use white porcelain and use washes of flesh colored china paint to create more depth in the painting. Although I make molds for my work, I individually sculpt each clay piece after it is removed from the mold. In this way I can give each it's unique character and the movement and expression of the figure is not limited by the restrictions of my mold making.

Each costume emerges (often intuitively) from a a variety of textures and patterns of decorative elements collected from every place and every decade in the last one hundred years: silks, velvets, laces, crystals, metallic threads, butterfly wings, miniature seashells. Often these elements are changed by cutting dyeing, painting, folding...whatever works. Although my work is small in scale I enjoy including intricate detail so that living with my work is contemplative and a constant discovery. Its diminutive size enables the viewer the opportunity to hold some of them in the palm of their hand for a closer, more intimate look.

My goal is to create a beautiful work of art that will inspire an awakening of dreams, memories, stories, longings through the tactile, the sensual, the unexpected and the surprising.

Contact information: Email: Stephanie Blythe | Web: stephanieblythe.com