My Story
I was born in Baltimore City and as a little girl, I’ve always enjoyed playing with dolls. Barbies were my favorite because that was the only option I had back then. At twelve years old, I made my first doll. It was made of my mother’s curtains and sheets. My mother wasn’t happy with what I did to her sheets, but I was extremely happy because I had sewed a life-sized doll. Even though my family thought it was creepy, I thought it was great.
In my tween years, my mother taught me to crochet and as an early teenager I used to crochet dolls. I always wanted to experiment with clay back then but in the 70’s, we didn’t have hobby stores in our neighborhood so I would sew and crochet.
Gallery of my early works
When I grew older, I purchased artistic wire and I used to make wire dolls and little angels. I couldn't put much detail in the face of a wire doll so I finally decided to try polymer clay. It was sticky and hard and when I tried to cure it, it was hit or miss. After researching, I found Paperclay and it simply needed air to dry; No oven required. I purchased some Premiere Air Dry Stone clay and made some heads. They were a monstrosity, but I didn’t give up. I practiced every night for weeks and continued to look for different tools to use and I also watched a lot of different youtubers share their doll-making tips. My Youtube learning journey exposed me to a plethora of information. Content providers taught me how to make an armature for the head and body and I also learned that glass eyes are really popular for dolls so I found a small company and purchased some eyes. As I kept practicing, my knowledge expanded and now I make a variety of wig styles using braiding hair, human hair, yarn and clay. There are also many artdoll groups on facebook and I've joined a few. The Professional Art Doll Guild(the Guild) is a great organization because they assign mentors and provide training and support for professional doll makers and hobbyists.
I’ve participated in many contests sponsored by the guild and I’ve come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for the yearly Gold awards. My doll journey is still happening now and I'm learning more and more each day. It is hard for me to categorize the types of dolls that I make. I like many types of styles including semi-realistic, characters, fashion, babies and most recently fantasy. If you would like to learn more about my dolls, please visit ceceliaarthouse.com