Izannah Walker dolls : dreams and reality

201st Birthday Izannah Frackford Walker

It was almost a year after our trip to the exhibition of Izannah Walker antique dolls. How quickly time passes! I want to say thank you to my destiny for such a gift. I want to say thanks to Izannah Walker, a simple American woman, for her magic dolls. I think Izannah Walker didn’t even suspect that her dolls (her way of making money for the family) would become so famous that "a crazy Russian woman" (me, of course) would cross the ocean and seven time zones to see old cloth dolls ...

The trip to America was unforgettable. I met Paula (she is our "boss" and mentor) and her husband (a very handsome man), I hugged my smart, beautiful Monica (my guiding star in the world of Izannah Walker dolls), I met my dear cheerful Claudia and we ate a delicious steak (my client who became my friend and even more), I met Lynn  (who loves dogs and especially corgi) and I met other interesting people ... I visited the small towns where Izannah Frankford Walker ("a lady with a male character») was born, lived, worked and buried …

For a few days of my trip, I met only good, friendly and kind people. In those days, Americans were preparing for Halloween. Since my husband and I lived only in small American towns, we saw a lot of decorated houses. It is very beautiful and scary at the same time))). It was very warm weather, bright sun. But on the way to the exhibition there was such a heavy rainfall that I was frightened - the water wall fell from the sky for several hours. And when we slept in a hotel on Long Island, I waited the water sail us into the ocean with the bed))) ...

My attitude towards dolls after the exhibition became more passionate and careful. I am not an artisan, but an artist and I'm not afraid to bring something of my own into the image of the doll , but I try not to back away from the rules in making reproductions . I make reproductions of dolls, and dolls "in style" as well. Time goes on, people have changed the same way. Sometimes my clients ask for "their own special doll" and I try to please them. But the essence and soul of the doll doesn’t change with the time ... a doll with a gentle serious gaze ... a doll who knows a lot but does not say anything ...

You just need to learn to hear her silence ...

P.S. : I hope my next trip will be in Pennsylvania (especially the famous Gettysburg). And forgive me for my English - my husband did not help me this time))))