Deborah and her
dolls were recently featured in the
local mid-south newspaper, Commercial
Appeal.
Click here for the link to the actual
article.
'I'm still a kid at heart'
Not satisfied to just collect dolls, she also makes them
 Hernando resident Deborah Napper turned her passion for collecting and making dolls into a business. She sells her creations on the Internet through Dolls by Deborah. When, as a child, Deborah Napper laid eyes on her first doll, a gift from her grandmother, it was love at first sight. Since that day, Napper has turned her passion for dolls into a business and an art, making fine porcelain dolls out of her Hernando home. She sells them on the Internet through Dolls by Deborah and custom makes them for clients. |
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My hobby turned into a business," said Napper, assistant to DeSoto County School Supt. Milton Kuykendall.
"I'm still a kid at heart," Napper said. "My husband allows me to have a childhood I didn't have." Napper was raised by her grandparents, who didn't have much. But her grandmother gave her a "walker" doll when she was a kid. And that was it. "I love dolls and want other people to be able to afford them," she said. |
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In addition to making and repairing fine porcelain dolls, Napper also collects them. Napper said, "Girls can be dressed up but they don't always act prim and proper" as displayed by Peggy Sue, one of Napper's favorites. Her workshop, which was once a den, is packed with dolls parts -- heads, arms, legs and the doll clothing Napper uses to construct the dolls. Tubs of doll shoes, bolts of fabric, paints and glass eyes overflow the shelves. The garage holds three kilns, which she uses to fire the doll parts at their various stages of development. Napper is also a doll collector, so all the spare rooms in the house are home to dolls. Lifeless but lifelike, they sit around tables and in chairs. "They start taking on their own personality," Napper joked. One of her daughters, she said, once asked "how can you have all these dolls looking at you?" Napper doesn't get creeped out. "I made them. ... .I know they are just dolls. "I come in here (workshop) and lose track of time," she said. "I'm not worrying about work, or life in general. ... .It's basically therapy." Napper's work is featured in the January edition of Doll Crafter & Costuming in an article written by internationally recognized doll sculptor Jack Johnston. She spends about 20 hours a week on her craft. Each doll can take up to six weeks to complete. Making porcelain dolls is an involved process -- pouring the liquid raw material into molds, then firing, washing, oiling, painting and sanding the shapes until they are the right color and consistency. Napper charges $300 and up for her dolls, a price that covers the cost of materials. "The labor -- you never get paid for it. You don't figure in the labor," she said. Two days before Christmas, Napper was finishing up her last two Christmas orders, one of a boy named Andrew. Parents bring photos of their children to Napper and she replicates the child in porcelain, matching eyes, tongue, eyebrows, freckles and even expressions. "And if I don't sell, them, they're mine," she joked. "They always have a home." -- Chris Conley: (662) 996-5920
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MAXIMIZING SPACE
Deborah and her studio were just
featured in an article by Jack Johnston
in "Doll Crafter & Costuming"
magazine!
CLICK BELOW TO VIEW THE ARTICLE
(Please note: you will need
Adobe Reader to access the article)
With permission:
www.dollccmag.com
Doll-maker recognized
Artist to teach students to use new pottery kiln
Deborah Napper (left) explains the sequence of events to make a porcelain doll to Dr. Janice Barton, principal at Oak Grove Central Elementary School.
Students at Oak Grove Central Elementary will have opportunities to make porcelain and pottery pieces since they now have two new kilns on campus.
Deborah Napper, executive assistant to Superintendent Milton Kuykendall, donated the smaller kilns to the campus and spoke to teachers about one of her favorite hobbies, making porcelain dolls. Oak Grove has more than 18 of her dolls throughout its library and in special display cases on the campus. The dolls were made to illustrate books.
Napper donated the kilns so students could make Christmas ornaments and various art pieces, and has offered to help teachers learn to safely use the equipment. The school already had one large kiln but this donation will allow them to make smaller loads.
"When you walk through our school and see the beautiful, life-like dolls, you know a part of Deborah Napper's heart is here," said Dr. Janice Barton, principal at Oak Grove Central Elementary School. "Having multiple kilns on campus will give our students unique opportunities to make art objects, and we are so appreciate of her generosity."
Teachers at OGCES held a reception to honor Deborah Napper and publicly thank her. Additionally, all passers-by got to see the Oak Grove marquee that said, "Thank you Mrs. Napper."
Napper explained the multi-step process of making a porcelain doll, a process that can take up to two months. "By the time I am finished with one of these dolls, it has taken on a personality," she said. "Each doll is different. This is a delightful hobby. I hope there will be Oak Grove students who share my love of this craft. Having early access to a kiln will give them an opportunity to see how much fun you can have."
