I discovered the ooak doll years later looking for new dolls to add to my collection (yes, im a doll collector too). Dan Lee was one of the first ooak artist I remember. He really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what you could do with a doll. So I started with rerooting and painting facial enhancements. I then saw the celebrity dolls of Laurie Leigh and Noel Cruz. Loving dolls like I do and portraiture, it was a no brainer! I have been doing the ooak doll now (one of a kind) since 2000 and focusing on the repainting part since 2005.

 

I work mostly with Barbies, but have also worked with the larger Tonner, and the smaller Dawn/Pippa.

 

A few highlights include my “Ellen" doll making it on the Ellen DeGeneres show in 2009 and appearing twice for interviews on local television (2009 and 2010) November 2012 HauteDoll magazine published a 3 page article about my dolls: "Re-creating Celebrity" and the same year had the privilege of working with Bret Michaels to create 14 original "Bret" dolls for his BMBPoorboy records website (which sold out in 2 days). Other accomplishments include repainting 4 dolls for the childrens/teen book cover "Bubble World" by Carol Snow (repainted to look like the characters in the book) and multiple awards through the years.

 

The last couple years I have been focusing on the detail of the repaint, constantly trying to improve my skills.  I do still draw portaits when time permits, but repainting dolls will always be a part of my life as long as I'm physically able.