WELCOME TO OUR 
SE DOLL & BEAR EXPO 2010

LISTING OF DOLL & BEAR ARTISTS
PAGE TWO

THE BEST AND MOST ESTABLISHED
DOLL EXPO IN THE SOUTHEAST.

There will be lots of Dealers who will have your favorite name brand dolls for sale. Click HERE to go to that page.
 
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*** AUGUST 6, 7 & 8, 2010 in ASHEVILLE, NC ***

KNIGHT SOUTHEASTERN DOLL SHOWS
SE DOLL & BEAR EXPO 2010 & CHRISTMAS SHOW
 
Crowne Plaza Tennis & Golf Resort
One Resort Drive, Asheville, NC

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OUR SPECIAL GUESTS ARTISTS FOR THE SE DOLL & BEAR EXPO 2010

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Maryanne Oldenburg has always loved art in any way, shape or form. She remembers as a young child drawing her own paper dolls and designing clothes for them.

She fell into the wonderful world of doll artistry quite by accident. Originally she worked as a freelance commercial artist. Then in the early 70's she discovered polymer clay and began creating her first figures, depicting the children from the poems of Robert Louis Stevenson. She never imagined that her "new" love would eventually become her profession.

(PHOTO'S: These are from the Playmates Collection from Willow's Way Dolls. Holly to the left and Kip to the right. They are produced by Maryanne's company.)

Maryanne was "discovered" by the doll collecting world in 1973 and sold her first pieces. From that time on she has immersed herself totally into learning sculpting, anatomy, costuming, shoe and wig making etc. From 1975, she designed and created most of her pieces in porcelain.

 She returned to polymer clay in 2000 because she needed to spend more time being "creative" rather than being a "production machine". She now mainly creates One Of A Kind's, children and babies being her favorite subjects.
 
Her creative life is a 24/7 endeavor but is constantly interesting and stimulating due to the diversity of the work involved, she loves every minute of it. Oh, in her "spare" time she also holds sculpting workshops in her home studio several times a year. She also does :on the road" workshops and will be presenting one at our SE Doll & Bear EXPO 2010.

An Extra Note

After designing dolls for numerous commercial companies over the years, she finally took the plunge and along with her two daughters, formed a new corporation, Oldenburg & Co. LLC in order to have some of her designs produced in vinyl. The photo to the left is Nathie from the new Kinder Kids Collection being produced by Maryanne's company. She has 13 moveable joints and is very poseable.

You can check out her two websites at:
www.maryanneoldenburg.com and www.oldenburgandcompany.com

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Diane Keeler says: "As I sit here organizing my thoughts and feelings about being a doll artist, I wonder if there is some deep intellectual and spiritual reason for making dolls. The simple truth, however, is that I cannot imagine doing anything else. It has become my life's focus. I have found joy, passion and a never-ending challenge in this art form. I am continually amazed at how consuming this passion is. Even during mundane activities, I am experimenting in my head with thoughts such as, 'What if I try this?'"

When Diane Keeler looks back, her whole life has been preparing her for this profession. She has always known she wanted to be an artist. As a child, she spent hours in her father's workshop doing things with his tools that would make him cringe. She carved hands and feet out of soap her mother made, and filled sketch pads with faces. Over the years a series of artistic challenges left her with the feeling: "That was fun. "What next?" Then Diane started sculpting. This artistic expression is the first thing she has done in her life she can truly say she is proud of. Diane says when she looks at a completed piece she is amazed it came from her. Pictured right is "Claire" from Diane's Flapper Series.

Sculpting dolls is a constant affirmation and consolidation of her talents and skills. Having been born with a natural curiosity and a strong imagination, Diane has always needed to understand how things work. Doll-making, being such a multifacted art form, provides opportunities to solve problems, to improve quality and techniques, and develop new approaches. She seeks educational opportunities wherever they present themselves, including anatomy books, photographs, and people watching.

In 1998 Diane Keeler began teaching her sculpting and wig techniques, this has opened a whole new aspect to her doll making career. She sees her wortk through her students and learn as much from them as she hopes they learn from her. How they interpret her techniques to their own style of sculpting. Pictured to the left from Diane's Children Series is the 2007 DOTY Award-Winning "Alicia".

In retrospect, she may have come full circle. Very possibly, the reason she cannot imagine doing anything else is because it is deeply satisfying interlectually and spiritually.

Finally, Diane Keeler's aspirations are to keep growing as an artist, to keep searching and learning, and to promote the doll as a respectable art form by doing the best work she can.

You can learn more about Diane Keeler by visiting her at the SE DOLL & BEAR EXPO 2010 or her website at www.dianekeeler.com      

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Marion Blair's friends and collector's know her many talents, but mostly they know her for her designer dolls and many television appearances on Home Shopping Network where her dolls sold nationally and internationally.

What a lot of them don't know is that now Marion is designing Fairies. Yes, cute adorable fanciful Fairies. She will be at EXPO with a great selection of her newest creations. You'll want to be sure and stop by for a visit with this noted Doll Designer and browse her Fairy Collection.

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Melissa Carlton is the Reborn Artist behind Golden Giggles Nursery. All of her life she has been a baby lover and when she came across the art of reborning she knew it was something she wanted to be a part of. She has poured her heart and soul into it ever since. She puts a lot of time and pride into each baby to make them as lifelike and special as possible.

Melissa is thankful to be a part of this incredible form of art that people all over the world love and cherish. Reborning is not just a job or hobby for Melissa but it is her true passion. She is so thankful that God has given her te talent to see an ordinary baby doll become a realistic lifelike heirloom.

As an Artist she strives to capture the pure innocence of a newborn baby. She never gets in a hurry and she makes sure every detail from the tiny ears to the delicate fingernails are highly detailed. She tries to make every baby very unique and special in their own way. Quality is also something that she is dedicated to and strives for. She uses only the finest materials available and she promises that with each baby she creates, 100% will be given to their rebirth. Melissa hopes that her love for this art form shows in every baby.

For more information about Melissa Carlton, and to see more of her work, visit her website at www.goldengigglesreborns.com

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Melissa McCrory has four sons. She has been making dolls for more than 30 years. She teaches porcelain doll making at her studio. She has no art training at all. She discovered her gift for sculpting in a high school art class one semester. She has researched dolls and doll making for years. Melissa and some of her work pictured at the left.

Melissa and her mother collect antique dolls and have more than 400 of them. She discovered polymer clay about 15 years ago but couldn't work with it because of arthritis in her hands. Then about 5 years ago Sculpey, came out with a softer clay, and she discovered the "pasta machine" - it was a God send. Now she can make all the babies she dreamed about. One of her babies is pictured to the right.

She still makes porcelain babies for the Home Shopping Network, which she has been with off and on for about 6 years. She travels to teach her craft for those who want to learn. When she first started, there were no teachers, and she knows how frustrating it can be when you want to learn so bad. She not only makes babies but animals as well. (see left)

Today she has a sculpting video out, which gives step-by-step instructions on how to make a one-of-a-kind baby. She has started to make some of her OOAK creations into silicone babies. This process makes the babies seem so real.

Look for Melissa McCrory at Doll EXPO 2009. You can see her work on her website at www.melissasbabies,com  

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Reborn Artist, Deborah McCandless will be here from eastern North Carolina with her very precious Babies. You'll want to visit with Deborah and browse her wonderful selection of Reborn's.

Every reborn Artist has their own idea of what a newborn, an older baby, or toddler should look like. They all have different ways of reborning dolls to make precious pieces of artwork. That is what makes every reborn so special. No matter how many times a doll may be duplicated with the same mold, the same hair, the same eyes, even by the same artist, every reborn is truly a one of a kind.

My babies are created using layers of Genesis heat set paints to produce realistic skin tone, viening, blushing and mottling. They are weighted with ultra fine glass beads, polypellets, and premium soft polyfil. Premium mohair is used to root the baby's hair which is then sealed on the inside to allow for gentle wetting and styling. Eyelashes are all rooted in sleeping babies. Awake babies have wispy lashes that are carefully applied with adhesive.

Every baby is made with my passion and love for the art of creating these little darlings. You can check out Deborah's website at:
www.deborahsdarlings.com

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Shirley and Bill Sharber will be here with their custom handmade Doll Furniture for Barbie (pictured left) and 19 inch dolls.

They have a real nice selection of quality furniture, such as bunk beds, regular beds, canopy beds, tables amd chairs, hutch and a whole lot more.

If you want to show off your dolls in a setting, then you'll want to check out this excellent furniture. Stop by and visit with Bill & Shirley.

This is true American craftsmanship. Made in the USA stuff. No imports here.

I'm sure you'll have them packing up some furniture for your dolls
Their prices are so reasonable. I couldn't believe they could make it and sell it for such low prices, but they do.

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Joy Joco took classes in painting and sculpting and in her spare time she cross-stitched anything that caught her attention. As an adult her focus changed to doll collecting. From collecting came her passion for creating. She has been making babies for more than five years, but her talent goes all the way back to her childhood.

Over the past five years that she has been creating babies she has been perfecting her various techniques that make each baby unique, special, and most of all, as life-like as possible. Although she has a love for all of her dolls, she feels there is always room for improvement so she is constantly working on new techniques to make her dolls the most beautiful and the most natural looking.

She has recently gone back to sculpting and hopes to have some of her hand-sculpted dolls on her website soon. By constantly stimulating her creativity everyone is guaranteed to have a very beautiful, and completely original doll.

Be sure to sign up for Joy's Workshop at our SE DOLL & BEAR EXPO 2010 and stop by and visit with her in the Sales Room. You can check out her dolls on her website at:
www.reallifedreamlandbabydolls.com

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Gia Heath has been creating Reborn's since 2005.
You'll want to stop by and visit in Gia's Baby Cre8tions Nursery and hold some of her special Babies.

You'll probably be taking one home with you.

You can visit her website at
www.babycre8tions.com

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Rosemary Brutto will be here with her Reborn Babies from Florida.

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Barbara Felts has been compelled to create things since she was very young. Throughout her life she has been involved in all sorts of arts and crafts. In 1985 her mother urged her to take a class at the local community college to learn how to reproduce porcelain dolls. She was reluctant but once she got started she couldn't stop. About a year later she moved to North Dakota and she began to teach others porcelain dollmaking. Pictured to the left is the Barbara Felts sculpt "Faith."

In 1995 while living in Oklahoma Barbara Felts attended a doll show in Oklahoma City where June Goodnow was teaching a one day sculpt a head seminar. She had to give it a try. Barbara was so excited after the seminar and began to practice but didn't have much time with a job, a two year old and a baby on the way.

Eventually Barbara Felts moved to North Carolina and in 1997 took a sculpting seminar at the Patty Lynn Shop in Greensboro. Then her addiction began again and she started sculpting original polymer clay and porcelain dolls.  In 1998 she attended another professional sculpting seminar. Pictured to the right is a Barbara Felts sculpt named Jammy Baby.

She has attended several baby seminars and an Art Doll Seminar with Mark Dennis. Barbara Felts has been concentrating on babies and children but she is about to branch out into Art Dolls. She is a member of several Doll Artists organizations. You can learn more about Barbara Felts and see her work on her website at www.feltsdolls.com

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It is possible from time to time to have to cancel a Show, or change the date, for some reason. If this ever happens, it will be posted on our Website. Always check here before traveling a long distance to a Show. Thank you for your support.