Lesley Duthie

My mother was a significant influence on my love of dolls. It was later in her life that we decided we would start her doll collection again by traveling to as many places as we could to collect them. After returning from our first trip together, she found that she had cancer. She died within 6 months, so I decided to honor her by building that doll collection in her memory.  My mother also cursed me by saying, “Don’t buy what you can make yourself.” Needless to say, I was sent on the adventure to learn everything I could about doll making. Having an Art Degree from Montana didn’t hurt, but still, it didn’t expose me to the type of doll-making I wanted to do.  Being a mother of small boys at the time also didn’t give me a lot of free time to learn. One time in particular, I remember running into a ceramic shop where they were teaching doll classes and asking the owner to teach me all she could, as I had a husband and three boys sitting out in the car. She was great, and she sent me home with greenware, and I bought my first kiln. This is also where I grew to love the feel of porcelain. The softness of the clay, the glow of the translucency, and the freedom of the painting process had me hooked.

For a couple of years, I struggled on my own. Learning, tossing away, and building a relationship with the porcelain. Then, I decided I wanted to share this adventure and placed an ad to see if anyone wanted to share this love with me. I started with four ladies, but over the next three years, I took the group out of my home and created a doll shop. I was teaching 60 people a week and traveling over 100 miles once a week to share the fun and excitement of doll-making.  Life changes, and as such, I have moved my business not once but thrice across the state of Montana, ending up in Alaska and then back to Montana due to my husband’s career changes. Now, I have settled back in Montana and met more people than I have ever thought to meet through this doll-making medium. But I have also realized the desire for those to make their own dolls was changing, so 15 years ago, I decided to take a new path and learn how to sculpt my one-of-a-kind dolls. That has been another adventure filled with lessons and challenges, but I have slowly developed my style with my magical characters and their touch of whimsy. They forever are sharing their stories with me as I create them, and love sharing their adventures through my blog on my website. Pull up a chair, bring your favorite brew, and escape into the Realm of Wymsy.