As a young mother, I begged my husband for dolls at Christmas time, but he thought it was frivolous, so I never received them. We had four sons and no daughters. At the time, I did not know that porcelain dolls could be hand-made. I managed to find a shop that offered Antique Doll-Making classes and signed up immediately.

That was the wonderful beginning of a life-long passion. For over 30 years now, each new little face is a joy to make, paint and complete. There were very few lessons then, so those of us with desire to learn persevered through many disastrous attempts at a “Beautiful, Perfect doll”. I loved the Antique beauties from the 1800’s on. I sat down one night with a lump of clay and sculpted a passable face. I was so excited. This was the beginning of my original dolls. From there sprung the Mold-making process. The end product was not very good, but eventually, better faces surfaced.

New doll makers emerged with ever more lovely modern dolls. There are so many branches to this art form it is hard to focus on just one. I love what I do and will continue trying to create better, sweeter faces. There just isn’t enough time to create all the different porcelains I dream of making.

Sharon Politeski