Miniatura

My mother, Jill Bennett, started making dolls when I was still at primary school and I helped paint cats, dogs and rocking horses from an early age.  My first solo attempt was a ‘sausage’ dog doorstop made of felt and stuffed.

I trained as a dressmaker, but when my second child was born I found it too difficult to have sticky fingers around expensive fabric and so started to dress some of mum’s dolls.  It was while helping her at Miniatura that I was persuaded to start my own range of 1/24th dolls.  I now make dolls in 1/12th, 1/24th and 1/48th scale but my favourite is still the half size.​

I attend both the spring and autumn Miniaturas and it is always lovely to see some old faces and catch up and also meet some new people who share a common interest.

I have a small workroom which is stuffed full of all sorts of useful bits and pieces.  When I am preparing for a show there is hardly room for me to walk around as I have piles of what I need around my chair.  I tend to work 4 – 5 hours a day, but in the winter this can be hard because the light goes so quickly.  In the summer I can keep going a little longer if I haven’t got other calls on my time, like the garden…..

I love to get lost in the stories of the characters I create – they all have real characters, which is what makes them interesting for me.  I think that is the magic of the miniature world and the possibilities are endless.