Featured Artist and Slide Show Details

Featured Artist: Stephanie Blythe Ethereal, Timeless Beauty None of us perceive the world in exactly the same way. Stephanie Blythe shares her vision of fantasy, color and texture reaching across the spaces between us with the form of the doll. She takes a light-hearted romp through fields of whimsy and reaches the beautifully profound. Creator of dazzling, porcelain, fantasy figures, Blythe was always determined to be part of the art world though dolls were not her original focus. She began an extensive study of art aspiring to be a children’s book illustrator. From the Bezalel Art Institute in Israel, the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) to designing for Vera in New York City, an M.A. in psychology, she has tapped her inner world bringing her wonderful gifts to others. After marriage, living in rural Maryland, her career as a doll artist grew roots. "I was a stay at home mom finding that making dolls could channel my creativity, access my ideas and make money." Thus debuted Blythe’s first dolls, "pocket pals," small animated shapes of printed calico with detailed, painted faces. Blythe’s creative energy traveled many paths in Maryland; freelance graphic design for health food stores and distributors, designing labels for their products, designing brochures for the local Economic Development Commission, doing artwork for a country magazine. Then came a collaboration with Susan Snodgrass to make dolls. Blythe and Snodgrass created immensely admired fairies from porcelain parts purchased from doll artist Sylvia Mobley, a process Mobley eventually taught Blythe. Though eight people were employed by the enormously successful team, responsibility for both making parts and the business side of the enterprise left little time for Blythe’s innate creativity. It was time for a change. The partnership was dissolved. A new, exciting period for Blythe began. "My dolls have evolved over the years, are still based on fantasy and have many elements that were in my earlier work." Her pieces are small, some less than three inches, her largest approximately fifteen. Her delicate, incredibly detailed figures undergo arduous, processes of several sculpts, castings and firings to ultimately achieve the tiny exacting detail and animation she desires. "I want each piece that comes out of my studio to be the best that I can create." She has cut production and does many more one of a kind dolls to attain her exacting standards. Her finished, costumed pieces are a delight of texture and color from her vast collection of antique lace, fabric, trim, ribbon and objects. Inspiration comes from many sources. Art nouveau artist Gustav Klimt’s painting, The Kiss, inspired her own Kiss Series. Ideas also come from collected antique children’s books, perhaps from a china teacup, a crystal, a shell. Today Blythe contentedly creates her lovely pieces in her San Anselmo, California studio, bringing together, in one form, her love and knowledge of textiles, detail, painting, sculpting and history. "I am able to take all enjoyable aspects of my life -- antiquing, collecting, being creative, traveling, meeting people -- thereby creating a way to make money and have a good time (mostly)." Having designed for many companies, she currently works with Goebel and Richard Simmons. Blythe aspires to create works that inspire others, to be a trendsetter in the world of doll art. A member of NIADA since l999, she finds NIADA a place to meet with peers, exchange ideas, gain and give support., to be part of a movement that educates the world in the art of the doll. Maralyn Christoffersen Find out more about Stephanie Blythe and her beautiful dolls. Visit: http://home.pacbell.net/sblythe

Slide Show

	Slide Show Details
	Hennie Koffrie Difficult Epoch, c. 1998 Used Materials: Shell, Sandclay, Silk, Antique Textiles, Plexiglas, Woven Metal I use varied materials to communicate both past and future. The doll does not have the pretension to be a copy of a human being; it is sculpted without abundance. It’s fragile, transience, emulates what thoughts can be, hiding energies of the mind. I work as a free artist on several projects but most important are the dolls. For more information on Hennie Koffrie visit the Artist Member Contact page of this web site.
	Gail Lackey Wilbur, c. 2002 Polyform Clay Wilbur is a commission piece, a Christmas Elf seated on an antique child’s block. He is surprised by his Jack-Out-Of -The-Box! I enjoy doing fairytale and fantasy pieces as it's a great escape from the ordinary world. For more information on Gail Lackey visit the Artist Member Contact page of this web site.
	Junko Liesfeld Girl With A Ball, c.l999 Cloth and Washi Paper With my dolls, I seek to capture innocence, serenity and warmth, all that is good in human nature. The expressions created using subtle changes in the medium, cloth and Washi for me, allow the feelings to come through. Simplicity with a minimum of sophisticated details is that for which I am constantly reaching. For more information on Junko Liesfeld visit the Artist Member Contact page of this web site.
	Lisa Lichtenfels Venus Restored, c.2001 Fabric After twenty years of doing this kind of sculpture, I still find that I am beginning my exploration of fabric as a medium. Every day something new is discovered. Recently I have begun experimenting with environment, especially for photographic records of the sculptures. Venus Restored is my most recent sculpture. The background tells her story and gives a take on the Botticelli painting, "The Birth of Venus." For more information on Lisa Lichtenfels visit the Artist Member Contact page of this web site.

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