Lady with a Past

Miss Isabelle is one of the Civil War dolls I am currently making to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the war. She is a 21"cloth doll whose head is covered with paper clay and sculpted. She has been oil-painted as the old dolls were. She is an Izannah Walker-type doll, but instead of painting her hair, I decided to make a wig out of wool roving. I just think it suits her better! Her dress is an 1860's style, and her little buttoned boots are painted on. I am making a straw bonnet for her right now to complete her ensemble. I think I will make a little brother doll for her next. I feel there is just not enough hours in the day to make my dolls! For every doll I start on, I have at least 5 or 6 ideas brewing for what's next. I started making porcelain dolls about 15 years ago, especially reproductions of French antiques, which I still dearly love. However, I really wanted to try new creative methods and have really enjoyed doing the cloth dolls with sculpted clay faces. I never sculpted in my life, and have been really intrigued by creating my own faces instead of using a mold that somebody else did.