Burlington, Vermont - October 31, 2011
As she sculpts and sews, Beth Robinson's dolls come to life, but these aren't dolls you'll find in any toy store.
"There's always a reaction when people see my dolls," Robinson said. And it's not hard to see why -- with misproportioned bodies and nightmarish faces, these works of art are down right ghoulish. "I describe them as macabre and creepy creatures," she said.
The self-taught artist started making the dolls less than 10 years ago and gets orders from all over the world. She makes every part of each one-of-a-kind doll. Sculpting with dental tools and disturbing finishing touches, like human hair and fingernails. Each creature tells a different spooky story, and takes at least ten hours to complete. The process is a little bit backwards -- her unique art is more about taking things apart than putting together a perfect finished project.
"It varies from -- there's a gravitation, reaching out, wanting to touch it, wanting to be involved with the object, real curiosity about the object. And then there's the opposite reaction to that, which is to recoil -- when people will start to walk into my studio and then back out again -- and I enjoy both, I enjoy seeing both," Robinson said.
This reporters personal favorite -- The Princess of Regurgitation.
"Basically the idea of something that is really lovely and perfect and it is just ruined by an involuntary response," Robinson said.
Reporter Gina Bullard: "So what do you do with these dolls? These aren't dolls kids are playing with."
Beth Robinson: "You can do whatever you want with them. I've actually fixed a doll that one of my customers slept with."
Robinson says Halloween is like her Christmas and a great time for her characters to shine.
"You come to find out once you start doing this kind of thing that everyone has a dark side," She said.
A hair raising product that's Made in Vermont.
Http://www.strangedolls.net/
