The Dollmaker

(Remember, you can click on any of these pics to see them larger)

3 Score & 10 recently asked me if the witchdoctor in my last post was a doll. He isn't (to my knowlege) though it's a great picture, isn't it? I suspect its a photoshopped picture, though they may have hired an actor to sit behind a desk, for all I know.

But it got me to thinking about a dollmaker that I interviewed several years ago, and I thought you all might be interested in the story. I was very impressed, and I've never even liked dolls!

I've been blessed with a wide variety of jobs, and during the time that I had this particular one, my assignment was to interview different local businesses. I actually just stumbled into this business by chance one day.

Rustie's International creates breathtakingly gorgeous dolls. Rustie hand-sculpts each individual prototype doll's face from clay. The dolls all have strikingly different faces, incidentally. When it's exactly where she wants it, she fires it and creates the body. When the doll is complete, she makes a mold of it and then delicately handpaints all the fine details and handsews the outfit. Of course Rustie has a couple assistants who help her, but this woman is amazingly talented, and she is the sculptress. (She employs friends and relatives. What a wonderful family business!)

Then the doll is marketed. The Home Shopping Network (HSN) is housed here in Clearwater, and is often one of Rustie's clients. So is The Danbury Mint.

Rustie takes the prototype in for the buyers to examine. If they like what they see, they may order 100 or more. That's when Rustie gets busy.

Rustie has a contract with a factory in China, where she sends the prototype and the mold for mass production. They carefully copy the prototype down to the finest detail, and voila! It's ready to be sold on HSN.

If a particular prototype doesn't sell, it becomes a one-of-a-kind and there's also a huge market for that among doll collectors so it's always a win-win situation for Rustie.

I am truly envious of her talent and her job. Rustie is a gifted, unique individual. She is also exceptionally pleasant, and even took time to sit down with me (a total stranger) so that she could share a little bit of her time and enthusiasm with another.

Check out her website for even more of her fabulous dolls! As you can see, they're so lifelike you can find yourself waiting for them to breathe. You almost feel that you could be friends with one, would despise another... you might even finding yourself thinking "I'll bet she's a tramp in real life" before you catch yourself. ;o)

P.S. I am continuing to face some serious challenges, and would appreciate being in your thoughts and prayers at this time.