Kathleen Engelen

My doll making evolved out of the pleasure I had sculpting with fimo. As a child I made all kinds of figures, mice and bears out of this clay. My very first fairy still sits in the top of my Christmas tree every year. Through the years I bought a lot of sculpting books and by combining all kinds of sculpting methods, I developed my own way of sculpting.

Actually I don't see myself as a doll maker, I sculpt fairies, each with their own character and their own meaning. I hesitated for a long time whether I should reveal their messages, but maybe that's not necessary. Every fairy picks its own name, which pops up in my head, when I'm finishing her.

By the delicacy of my fairies I want to express the vulnerability of the female. Sensitivity, serenity and freedom are the themes that keep coming back. I also feel a connection with the moon in my sculptures. My sculptures are fairies, therefore it's not my goal to sculpt anatomically a perfect women's figure. To me the pose and with this the atmosphere and the feeling I want to express are more important to me. Very often I sculpt fairies with inner peace, or really exuberant fairies, all parts of myself, but mostly I notice that when the doll is finished.

To me every time it's a struggle to put an inner vision in an outer expression. And if I can't sculpt for a few days, I get very restless.

I never use moulds and I love to work with the finest natural materials. The clothing is made out of silk that I hand dye myself and for the hair I use mohair. For the accessorizing I also use gemstones or glass beads.

Through my website, some collectors from all over the world own my fairies. Attending doll fairs is very tiring I think, but in 2008 I'll try to show my work a little bit more.

I'm also a web designer and started this website to show you all these talented doll artist that we have in Belgium in one website.

Greets

Kathleen