- April 24, 2024
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‘It feels good to think of a character and make it materialize.’
Making dolls is not child’s play.
Ormond Beach resident Crystal Woudenberg Bernard has found it to be a rewarding pastime, but also time consuming. She said she spends “all her time” making dolls in her home
“Making porcelain dolls is very labor intensive,” she said.
She sells her dolls online all over the world and they have gone for $500 each.
She has been recognized for all her hard work. For the second consecutive year, she has won the Award of Excellence in a national contest in Dolls Magazine.
She won in the Artist Ball-Jointed Doll category, which are collectibles. There are also categories for dolls for children.
Her winning doll this year was “Keelin the Forest Nymph.” Last year, her winning doll was an Asian fairy doll.
She also won a contest at the Orlando Museum of Art last year, in a show that featured many types of art depicting Charles Dickens characters. Her Oliver Twist doll won Best of Show.
She said she has always loved fantasy and fairy tale characters.
“It feels good to think of a character and make it materialize,” she said. “It’s fascinating. You’ve created a little being … a little creature.”
She’s also sold mermaid dolls and wants to branch out into many other characters, including Halloween, and possibly a series that illustrate American folk tales.
“We don’t talk about American folk tales very much anymore.,” she said.
She likes working with porcelain, even though it’s difficult and time consuming, because she says it’s beautiful and lasts thousands of years.
She molds the doll with clay and then creates a mold. Liquid porcelain is poured into the mold and later fired in a kiln.
“After that there’s a lot of cleaning and smoothing,” she said. “It’s still soft and can be changed a little. No two of my dolls are exactly alike.”
When painting the dolls, they must be fired again after each layer of paint, and she uses five layers.
People enjoy her creations. She once made mermaid dolls to decorate a jewelry display in a store, and customers asked to buy the dolls.
She estimates there are hundreds of people in the U.S. who make dolls. She would like for it to be a livelihood for her someday.
For winning the Dolls Magazine contest, she received a trophy and her doll was shown in the magazine.
Bernard started the hobby five years ago, after seeing an art doll in a magazine.
“I knew I wanted to do that but didn’t know how,” she said. She learned the craft by researching online and buying books.
She has also been a painter, in both watercolor and oil.
She said her work is evolving.
“It’s like when you make the last stroke in a painting and you see something you could improve,” she said.
For information, email [email protected].
