I started making dolls for my daughter, Devan, when we were living on the Big Island in Hawaii.  I wanted to make her a soft, natural doll that she could tell her stories to.  My dolls usually have hand dyed cotton skin, wool/alpaca/mohair hair styles and are stuffed with wool so that when a child holds them their body warmth is reflected back -- which makes the doll feel alive.  The faces are embroidered on.  The clothes are made from my scrap bag which is made up both new and recycled fabrics with natural fibers.

In Hawaii the people are almost all mixed ethnicity....and the children are beautiful.  So the dolls were always multi cultural and usually reflected the appearance of the children around me.  The doll on the right is based on a fuzzy haired blonde child I taught at Malamalama Waldorf School in Keaau.  She was a quiet, mild mannered girl for the most part but her crazy hair hinted at hidden energies that would occasionally erupt in spinning, flying dances.