For Farmington resident Carolyn Beazer, dolls aren’t just for children.
More than a decade ago, Beazer began making dolls as a way to preserve those baby years that tend to fly by so quickly.
But it soon became more than that. "I found a porcelain doll-making class in Farmington and signed up," she says. Beazer only made two dolls in that class before she decided she had the skills to continue on her own.
She soon found that porcelain doll-making was too time-consuming, especially considering she had two small children at home to care for. Additionally, less expensive imports from Asia began to flood the market and it was no longer lucrative to continue with that medium.
"The time I was putting into them didn’t match what I could reasonably sell them for," Beazer says.
After putting aside doll making for a short period of time, Beazer found a doll studio that taught her how to use polymer clay to design and sculpt her own doll patterns.
"I had never worked in that medium before, and it opened up a whole new world of creative expression for me," she says.
In fact, her creative juices were flowing so much that she decided to showcase her handiwork at the International Toy Fair in New York City. As the new kid on the block, she gained invaluable knowledge from her excursion.
Shortly after the Toy Fair, Beazer began to experience some health problems. After many trips to the doctor and numerous tests, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For the next year and a half, she would experience debilitating episodes that would leave her temporarily disabled in one way or another.
"Needless to say, doll making had to be put aside again," Beazer says.
But in 2004, Beazer was able to find a treatment that kept her disease in check. Because she no longer has the strength in her hands to work with polymer, she has turned to making cloth dolls.
She has not given up on polymer clay sculpting, however. Beazer says, "I just have to find a way to make it work for me."
Beazer’s know-how produced a great opportunity for her in 2006 after Cory Thorell, the props master for Ballet West, contacted her and urged her to re-costume the dolls that had been used for many years in the ballet’s production of "The Nutcracker." Beazer agreed and was grateful for the experience. "Everyone at Ballet West was very supportive and very generous in their comments about my work," she says.
For now, doll making remains only a hobby for Beazer. She hopes to one day find her perfect niche and perhaps make her artistry into a full-time job.
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Doll-making gives Davis woman a creative outlet |
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