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PROFILE OF A REBORN-DOLL ARTIST
~STEPHANIE JONES~

Q. How long have you been a reborn-doll artist?

"I have been a reborn artist since April 2002."

Q. What influenced you to become one?

"I searched high and low for a realistic African-American reborn and could not find one. This prompted me to attempt to make one for myself."

Q. Can you explain what you mean by realistic? What features, colorations, etc. were you seeking that were not being provided by other reborn artists?

"Many babies on the reborn market in April 2002 had straight-hair wigs or wigs that had too much hair for a baby. The lips were also either too pink or too red. Berenguer only offered the African-American dolls in one shade and we all know that AA people come in a wide variety of shades. The eye colors available were always just the standard brown without any variation. No one at the time was dyeing dolls to achieve the rainbow of AA coloring. I think the hair bothered me most of all. I wanted a baby w/ curly or at least wavy hair that was more realistic looking." The picture below is a one of Stephanie's first reborn dolls.

Q. Where can collectors see your dolls?

"My babies can be seen on eBay by performing a search for seller: brownsugarbabies. They can also be seen on my website: http://www.brownsugarbabies.com.

Q. What inspired the name, Brown Sugar Babies?

"I chose the name for my reborn nursery based on the pet name my grandmother had for me when I was a child… she called me her brown sugar baby."

Q. How did you acquire your reborn doll knowledge?

"At first my reborn knowledge was basically obtained through trial and error. At the time I was also designing graphics and websites. I met an awesome reborn artist, Shelley Richardson, of Special Request Nursery. She helped me immensely with techniques and together we came up with our own dye formula to achieve realistic African-American skin tones."

Q. Where do you get your inspiration (people, places, dreams, music, etc.)?

"Most of my inspiration comes from real babies." The picture below is a doll Steph created to look like the author's grandson.

Q. What is your favorite mold or type of doll to reborn and why?

"My all time favorite mold is the "Mary" mold. I liked it from the second I discovered the art of reborning. She is the first mold I made to keep for myself after perfecting my reborning technique."

Q. Do you have a "day job" or do you devote most of your time to the art of reborning?

"I work full time as the general manager of a restaurant."

Q. How long does it usually take to reborn a doll?

"On the average, completing a doll takes 2-3 weeks."

Q. When you begin, do you have an idea of what the completed doll will look like or does that come later?

"Usually I let the baby take on its own personality. I do sometimes start with a specific baby picture and create from there."

Q. From visiting your website, I noticed that your dolls come in all shades of brown and could represent several ethnicities -- African American, Hispanic, Native American, etc. Would you consider this your own personal style?

"Yes. I strictly design ethnic babies. I feel in every aspect of the doll world there are too few choices available for the African-American collector. My goal is to provide a wide range of babies in several different shades for collectors who desire realistic-looking dolls of color. I have not yet designed a Native American baby and have done one Hispanic baby by request. I guess my own personal style can be summed up as: Only creating African-American babies in different shades and coloring."

Q. Do you teach your reborning art style?

"I don't actually teach my techniques but have helped others who desire to create a realistic African-American baby."

Q. Have you presented your dolls at doll shows? If so, how many dolls do you take with you?

"I have not participated in any doll shows at this time."

Q. Do you have any tips for aspiring reborn doll-artists?

"Reborning has got to be a passion and something you enjoy. Never allow greed to set in and skimp on quality. I see so many trying to make a quick dollar. When this happens, a reduction in quality usually occurs. A reborn artist should always take pride their work and always use quality products."

Q. What was your most recent doll? (Please describe.)

"My most recent doll is top secret! She is being created for a friend. I am also working on several custom-ordered babies using pictures of the buyer’s baby or grandchild."

Q. Speaking of custom dolls, are you able to apply your reborning technique (hair rooting, dyeing, blushing, eye color/type change, eye lashes, weighting, etc.) to preowned dolls if they are the same type of doll you reborn?

"Yes. I have reborn older Berjusa dolls. I have also reborn Lee Middleton dolls and other artist dolls upon request." Below are before and after pictures (far left is before) of an older, preowned Berjusa doll owned by the author. To this doll, Steph added her special touches of hair rooting, blushing, eye lashes, and weighting.

Q. What's next for you? Do you see yourself reborning dolls long into the future? Will you ever sculpt a one-of-a-kind doll?

"I think I will always have a passion for reborning. But I definitely plan to attend a sculpting seminar in the summer of 2003. I want to go to the next level in creating realistic, affordable babies."