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From her home in Philadelphia, Laura Tuzio-Ross
shares her earliest doll memories. “When I was 3
years old,” recalls Laura, “my aunt sent me a
set of some baby paper dolls. All but one was
wearing a snow suit. I wanted a snow suit for
all the babies, so I watched as my mother
carefully traced around the baby and drew a
lovely snow suit for it, which she then colored
and cut out to complete my set. It was my first
art lesson.”
From that point on, Laura began to draw and
design her own paper dolls and clothes. Her
interest expanded to include three-dimensional
baby dolls she could cuddle in her arms. Her
mother encouraged her in that direction as well.
“Every Christmas,” says Laura, “my mother would
make new clothes for my baby dolls. It was
always so exciting to wake on Christmas morning
and see all the little diapers, sun suits, and
rompers appear before my eyes. Those handmade
clothes done by my mother were always my
favorite presents.”
After high school, Laura attended the Moore
College of Art and Design in Philadelphia where
she majored in fashion illustration. She spent
the next 11 years working as an illustrator and
graphic designer for the Campbell Soup Co.
During this period, just for fun, Laura drew
pastel portraits of children.
In January 2004, Laura came across the term
“one-of-a-kind” and began to investigate
further. She found some tiny hand-sculpted
babies in an online auction and decided it was
something she would like to try. “I started with
4- to 5-inch babies and sculpted one each day
for 11 days and offered them to collectors. By
the time I had made baby number 11, I was
receiving e-mails from so many people requesting
custom orders that I could no longer offer my
work through auctions. Within three months, I
sculpted my first life-sized baby, Ming Mei, for
a doll show in Massachusetts.” The demand for
Laura’s babies continued to increase.
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Laura’s one-of-a-kind babies are made from
ProSculpt®. She uses acrylic eyes for her awake
babies and the highest-quality mohair, which is
rooted, then pressed into the unbaked sculpt and
baked to ensure it remains permanent. Laura’s
mother sews all of the bodies for her babies.
With fiberfill and pellets, the dolls are made
to reflect the weight and feel of a “real, live
baby.”
In late 2004, Laura began to offer
limited-edition silicone babies to collectors.
First came Braydon, a 20-inch baby boy, followed
by 16-inch preemie Jessica. Both babies were
editions of 20, and collectors could choose hair
and eye color as well as Caucasian or biracial
skin tones. Suki, a 23-inch Asian baby girl,
came next in an edition of 15. These were
closely followed by Taylor, an open-eyed baby,
and Tristan, a peaceful sleeper. Both Caucasian
babies were in an edition of 15 and collectors
could choose not only hair and eye color but
also whether they wished their new baby to come
home dressed as a boy or girl.
Today, Laura offers baby Bella, a biracial
open-eyed baby girl inspired by her real-life
daughter Isabella, again in an edition of just
15. As with her original works, Laura
hand-paints all of her silicone babies and uses
the same quality hair, eyes, and bodies. The
babies all have hand-rooted hair and eyebrows.
All are hand-signed and numbered, and each
receives a certificate of birth.
In
addition to her limited-edition and original
pieces, Laura has also started producing
miniature babies in resin. The first is for a
group called We Love Black Dolls. “I was asked
to sculpt the group’s club baby for 2005 in a
6-inch size,” says Laura. “These babies, as with
all other resins, have hand-painted eyes and
hand-applied mohair. They usually come with
bunting, blanket, or display basket. |
“I
also have quite a few of my babies in
reproduction in silicone-vinyl for Home Shopping
Europe through MasterPiece Dolls. I try to offer
the same variety of ethnicities and expressions
as with all my other babies,” says Laura. “I
feel it is important to have some of my pieces
reproduced so that more collectors have the
opportunity to own one of my dolls.”
On a more personal level, Laura explains, “I am
an artist in every sense of the word. I am messy
and disorganized, yet laid-back and very
down-to-earth. My art takes over my life and my
house. It is not unusual to find doll heads in
the oven, legs on the table, and mohair on the
couch. Art is extremely difficult to contain,
and it is impossible to be neat and tidy. I can
become also so focused on the face I am
sculpting that I completely forget about making
dinner and doing the laundry.”
When asked about her hopes for the future Laura
replies, “I wish to continue to make collectors
happy with each new baby. I am excited to still
be at the beginning of my new career.”
One look at the soulful expressions and
uncannily real expressions on Laura’s babies
leads one to believe that she may, indeed, get
her wish.
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