Who Is Dottie Clark?
Maker of Lifelike Baby Dolls; Sculpted Clay Infants
A brief look at the life and career of Dottie Clark, a creator of astonishingly real one-of-a-kind dolls.
Legendary doll maker Dottie Clark never thought of herself as other than a wife and mother of five children. A native of Indiana, she received her education there and after graduating from high school married at the age of nineteen. The next several years were spent in raising the family and later having her own prayer ministry...an outreach program of prayer and understanding that touched many lives. Dottie had a tragedy herself when her beloved daughter Katie Ann died of cancer at age 48 in 2006. "That nearly ended my life," says Dottie, "but I knew that I couldn't let it."
Around the year 2000 another daughter gave Clark a computer and she immediately started looking up dolls without really knowing why. She became more interested as time went by and attended a doll-making convention where she met a woman who had adopted five African-American children (making nine children in all), and Dottie invited her to her home for a week of rest and relaxation.The woman was so grateful that she gave Clark all the materials for a doll and showed her how to make it. The result was amazing...an extremely life-like baby doll ...everyone she showed it to urged her to go into the sculpted doll business.
Right now it's Dottie Clark's hobby and she takes great care and time in making her babies. This is not an assembly line production...each doll is made with love and care. And because Clark had a virus in 1995 that seemed to be the start of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome her output is limited. However, she always has time for her prayer ministry and has had many visions and apparitions in her life. She lives by her faith in God and does what she is able to do to help others who come to her for assistance.
Her first sculpted 'reborn baby' was sold for $1,200, and others have also been sold for approximately that price. Clark uses a clay called ProSculpt to get the result she is looking for. Her dolls are OOAKs (One of a Kind) and have received praise from doll manufacturers throughout the country. Perhaps one day she will go into production, but for now she is content to make her dolls only when she has the strength to do so. Each one is precious to her and she always puts much of herself into bringing them to life.
Dottie Clark lives quietly in northern Indiana, her native state. If you wish to see these dolls her website, Dottie's Place, is now up and running.
Source:
- Personal conversations with Dottie Clark.
Further Reading:
