About The Artist

Hello, and welcome to my own little world of dolls. I began repainting Gene Dolls back in November, 1999.  It all started when I saw the most beautiful doll I had ever seen - Josette, a Dark Shadows repaint by Laurie Leigh.  I was entranced!!  I wanted to try, so I started with a few Barbies, then tried my hand at Gene.  I loved it!  I also began sewing costumes for some of the repaints, creating a few with storylines, and enjoyed watching them take shape.  I  began painting Robert Tonner dolls, which is my current on-going passion. I have always enjoyed art, and this venue combined two of my favorite things, Art and dolls.  

About The Person

I was born in Dallas Texas, raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area (Mentor), and moved to Michigan in 1986.  I have always loved music, so became an elementary vocal music teacher, earning my Bachelors in music from Kent State University, and my masters in Elementary Education from Wayne State University.  I have been teaching in the same school district since 1989, and also enjoy teaching drama and music K-8 as a share-time Music/Drama teacher at St. Lawrence Catholic School.  We have put on 4 musicals:  Beauty and the Beast Jr., Schoolhouse Rock Jr., Getting to Know The Sound of Music, and Aladdin Jr.  Our upcoming Spring musical will be The Wizard of Oz.

I am married to a wonderful man named Russ, and we have two beautiful children, Kenneth James (named for his 2 grandfathers) and Anneliese Rachel (named after my middle name and Russ's mother's middle name,  as well as Anneliese's Godmother, Anneliese Stahl, my best friend (also Anna's Godmother) Audrey White's Mom).  We live in Oakland Twp., MI, a suburb of Detroit, and have a dog named Winston Bean, a cockatiel named Dincan, and 2 hamsters named Romo and Datsuki.

Other than repainting and collecting dolls, my hobbies are golf, travelling, theater, dancing, sewing,  jet-skiing, calligraphy, gardening, crafts, and raising my two incredible children (more than a full-time job!!).