About the dolls and me, Susan Andrews
The process begins with a basic vinyl or (other material) type doll. The
parts usually are usually an unassembled (kit) or sometimes a
pre-made/mass-produced doll that is taken apart. If there is factory
paint, it is removed. The parts are then cleaned.
The original eyes are rarely used as is. For Economic purposes they can
be repainted from the inside or outside. To replace the eyes raises the
doll's cost but is usually well worth it.
The whole process of changing the skin includes many different types of
paints (genesis heat set for vinyl is my preferred). The outcome for
each doll is individual and varies. No doll has the same skin tones. All
paints are mixed per project. (never purchased premixed). Some dolls
are made to look realistic in a normal sense. Some are done to be more
realistic in a fictitious sorta way. Sometimes the dolls are made to
look like dolls and not real babies. Some people can't seem to get past
anything “outside the box” when it comes to dolls normally used for
traditional style Reborning. If that is you, then these dolls may not be
for you.
There are also different type clays added to some of them for special
features to be added to obtain a specific look. All of the doll work
takes a great deal of patience and can take several days.
Finger and toe nails vary, I rarely use the traditional REBORN standard.
The nails are meant to last when doll is treated kindly. Most all nails
are then sealed with GHS paint when they can be.
The hair rooting is done many different ways as well. For the “prop”
type inexpensive dolls the hair can be rooted with a large amount of
hair per scalp hole. There is usually no hair growth pattern. The hair
or some of the hair can also be painted. That goes for the eyelashes
& eyebrows. The dolls I spend special attention on will have very
few hairs per hole, and a growth pattern can be seen. I use “good”
quality mohair for most projects, special mohair can be requested for
custom orders. The hair is cut and styled. Glued from the inside. When
wigs are used, I usually use the Modacrylic type. Sometimes I will root
yarn for specific dolls. The Fur-ball babies get a body covered by hand
felted mohair ( for extra softness) and then rooted hair and maybe some
painted hair in small areas. (very long process)
Eyelashes are rooted or painted. Custom orders can request purchased
eyelashes for dolls. The eyebrows are mostly painted but for some
special tasks, they are rooted.
The doll bodies are generally the cotton/jointed body. Stuffed with
fiber fill, poly fiber & limbs with polypellets and sometimes other materials for
extra weight (all legal to for shipping).
Total dedication,obsession and time go into the dolls. I would like to
think these dolls do impact people, be it scary, humorous or just make
them very happy.
Born (1965) in Columbia SC - Lived in many surrounding states over the years.
I come from a family with Artists on my father's side.
Had very early interest in art since preschool. Always drawing and sketching action cartoons. Got to be the first student (4th grade) to draw up something for the school bulletine board. Also won an art contest or two in grade school. In high school I did a lot of custom jacket painting of people's favorite band images.
After graduating high school, a few years later, I enrolled in the Greenville Technical College's Communications Art & Technology course. The intention was a possible career in design for advertising. However being a paste-up artist wasn't what I had in mind so the course wasn't finished. Many of the related courses in that program I took were:
Elements of Design, Photography, Art History, Drawing and others.
Created the Logo for The Dept of Animal Resource, part of the Columbia SC College.
I've worked with pen & inks, acrylics, oil painting, water colors, charcoal, air brushing, tattooing, sculpting and currently working mostly in 3D art (dolls). At one time in my life I
had given thought to latex mask making.
Life's turns got away from art for a few years. Got back to it after discovering that art therapy was given at some hospitals for cancer patients. After my own ordeal with Breast Cancer I thought I should get back into it and give it a try.
In 2006, By chance I discovered the art of dolls while out shopping with my mother. So for fun, I started to alter dolls with paints and clays. I decided to name the creations "Paranormalbabies". I wanted a name that would be well rounded and cover my interests since most of the motivation & inspiration comes from that. Whether
it be strange, unusual, comical, scary or beautiful. I've been a fan of horror &
fantasy since a very young age.
After selling many of the creations (World Wide) and getting such incredible supporting feedback from admirers and collectors, I decided to take this work more seriously and continue to always try to improve and challenge myself.
In 2008, Submitted dolls to the International Doll and Bear Show in Washington DC to be shown and sold.
In 2008, I also attended The Scarefest convention in Lexington KY where Tom Savini (widely known for many horror related film projects) purchased one of the dolls. My ego went through the roof at that moment J/K. I ended up meeting the people from Big Biting Pig Productions, who later contacted me to work on a doll for their movie to be released in 2011, The Creepy Doll.
