Dolls' Paradise - Barbara Benken

Dolls' Paradise Barbara Benken

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About me...

I don't like to talk too much about me. But just in case you are curious who the person behind this site is: here is some information. After briefly introducing my "philosophy" of doll making and describing what my work is meant to express, I will give you a curriculum vitae of my "career" as a doll artisan. At the end of the page, you find a short link list.

My 'philosophy':

The dolls I make shall take us away, for some moments of time, from everyday's problems and duties. With my work I try to present grace and beauty; and I am glad if I succeed in bringing back into people's life an enchanting little piece of childhood.

In creating my repro-dolls, I use only the best equipment and accessories. Quality has its price, of course, but it actually pays to use valuable materials. Only by doing this, a doll can look similar to the antique model in the end. I prefer creating just one doll that to me looks really beautiful than making two or three dolls within the same time and with the same effort that are less beautiful.

Steps of my development as a doll artisan:

1946	as a little girl, with the help of my girlfriend's father, I modelled my first doll from papier-mâché and sewed clothes for it.
1968	as a mother of two children who attended an anthroposophic kindergarten, I learned how to make the original 'Waldorfpuppen'.
1984	I started making 'Swiss rag dolls' and simple porcelain dolls.
1985	I finished my first reproduction of an antique doll (a Kestner Hilda).
1987	at Christmas my husband gave me a kiln.
1988	I participated for the first time in an international doll competition (in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland).
1988	I organised a Christmas exhibition in our house (which I continued to do for the next four years).
1990	I won the first medal (Audience Prize 3rd place, Wanke-fair Hamburg).
1991	I acquired the DAG-'Teacher'-Certificat.
1991	in a course with the sculptor Horst Heerlein, I modelled my first artist doll.
1992	I acquired the title 'Master of Dollmaking' from the Doll Artisan Guild, after having taken part in several intensive doll-making courses in Switzerland from 1989 to 1992.
1993	I won the 'Eurodoll', the highest award of the competition of the same name, in the category 'Baby dolls' with a reproduction of a doll originally made by Schönau & Hoffmeister.
1993	on October 1^st, I opened my 'Doll's Paradise' in Braunschweig.
1999	I won my fortieth medal at an international doll competition.

Some links I could recommend (in English):

	The wonderful Kathe Kruse Dolls
	Dolls of the Waltershauser Puppenmanufaktur.
	Lovely artist dolls made by Wiltrud Stein.
	Reproductions of Bru dolls by Margit Gieszer.
	About.com: an American site on Collecting Dolls with rich content.
	Doll's houses and equipment: Bodo Hennig.

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