Kaysville doll maker Sherri Williams, who has been selling her custom dolls since 2004, prides herself in creating babies so detailed people almost think they're real. "When I took a photo of a doll I made into a store to be copied, the clerk asked what my baby's name was," said Williams. "When I explained it was a doll, they were really surprised."
Williams has been making dolls since she was a child, and her creations range from five-inch fairies to Nativity scenes that can stand 21 inches high. Her heart, however, has always been closest to the polymer clay baby dolls that she hand sculpts, carefully modeling them after real photographs.
"It's amazing how just a slight difference in molding the clay can make two sets of features completely different," said Williams.
What's inside the dolls, however, is almost exactly the same. Though smaller dolls are sculpted as one piece and made entirely out of the polymer, the larger baby dolls are made limb by limb around bases, or armatures.
The head is sculpted around a tinfoil ball, and the arms and legs have a base of wire and tinfoil or tape. Not only does this make the limbs more sturdy and help prevent breakage, but also speeds up the baking process that hardens the polymer.
The next step is to individually sculpt each piece, carefully measuring every inch so that the final baby will remain in proportion.
During facial sculpting glass eyes are set carefully into the clay, and mohair micro-rooted into the scalp one hair at a time. Human hair can't be used because it's too thick, making it look disproportionate to the rest of the doll.
The arms and legs are made next, each sculpted by hand despite the availability of molds. Though the results are not precisely symmetric, they look far more realistic.
"If you do them [the limbs] individually, you can put a lot of character into the position of hands or feet," said Williams. "The goal is to make sure there's not another doll like it."
After the head and limbs are completed and baked, Williams sews them onto a cloth body filled with tiny beads. This keeps the dolls from being too stiff and allows Williams to dress them in the hand-sewn clothes she makes for each one.
For Williams, each activity is a gift. In 2005 she was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder that made moving her hands painful. Treatment has allowed her to return to sculpting as a physical therapy, but even that is hit or miss.
"I don't know how I'll feel one day to the next," said Williams. "Luckily, this is a career I can do when I'm up to it."
The dolls themselves have been a comfort. Williams names each baby doll she creates, giving them their own special identity before sending them off to their new homes.
"It's actually really hard to let them go," said Williams. "It's exciting in one way, but I've grown really attached to them. They're like a little person and I have to say goodbye to them."
Williams' dolls are online at www.artdollguild.net. Anyone interested in taking home a baby doll should call 451-6623, for more information.
jwardell@davisclipper.com
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