Marion native turns doll making hobby into business
Staff writer
Marion native JoAnn (Magee) Berry is one of those lucky people who has found a way to earn a good living doing something she loves.
She left a successful career as a newspaper advertising manager and graphic artist to pursue her hobby of making miniatures.
"I started making miniatures during my lunch hour," JoAnn said.
A resident of Penrose, Colo., JoAnn makes porcelain miniature dolls for dollhouses. Her dolls — mini works of art — have become well-known in the world of miniature collectors. In fact, stories about her and her work have appeared in various magazines catering to miniature doll enthusiasts.
Marion roots
A 1964 graduate of Marion High School, JoAnn grew up in Marion, the daughter of Dr. Charles and Dorothy Magee. (Dorothy currently is living in Canon City, Colo.) JoAnn's childhood home, located at 204 N. Lincoln, is currently the Mickey and Bill Lundy residence.
JoAnn married Marion native Tom Berry — also a Marion High School graduate — and the couple moved to Colorado to raise their family.
"We always spent our summers in Colorado when I was a child and always owned property out there," JoAnn recalled. "We always loved Colorado."
The Berrys have two sons, Boone and his wife, Holly, of Snowmass, Colo., Travis and his wife, Leslie, of Denver, one step-grandchild, John, and one granddaughter, Madison.
Tom is a brother to Becky Summerville of rural Marion. Tom retired in June from a career with the Colorado Department of Corrections.
The Berrys were in Marion in October to attend a family reunion.
Lifelike miniatures
Miniatures are lifelike recreations of adults, children, real or fairytale characters standing just a few inches high.
"Porcelain miniatures are all one-inch to the foot scale," JoAnn explained. "So if something is five feet, the miniature doll would be five inches."
JoAnn said she caught the miniature bug in the mid-1980s when she saw a dollhouse at the Colorado State Fair and wanted one.
"I got into dolls and decided I wanted a Santa Claus for one of my scenes," JoAnn said.
JoAnn bought a book on miniatures and took a class. After much trial and error, she perfected her dollmaking skills.
"I made a porcelain Santa. Then some friends wanted one and it sort of mushroomed from there," she said.
The porcelain dollmaking process is similar to making ceramics, including the pouring process, cleaning seams, firing, painting, and firing again.
"I use commercial molds, but do all my own pouring," JoAnn said. "Each doll has a separate firing to get just the right skin tones. I don't have to paint faces. I can get porcelain in the right color."
For example, JoAnn uses a light colored porcelain to pour a Santa Claus, but a darker color to pour an Indian maiden.
Some of her dolls include Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, an Indian maiden, a nun, a witch, Santa Claus, Mrs. Santa Claus, elves, children, and others. Each doll is posable
The dolls' hair is made from viscose mohair, which she purchases by the yard. Each hairstyle is made individually to fit the particular doll. Whereas, Dorothy will have long brown hair done up in braids, Santa Claus will have a white flowing beard.
JoAnn also sews all the clothes for her miniature porcelain creations. Usually using quality cotton fabric, she chooses tiny prints at the correct scale for the small dolls. Her tiny Mrs. Santa Claus, for example, wore a dress with a minuscule candy cane design.
"Most people are surprised to learn these clothes are sewn on a sewing machine," JoAnn said. "The most difficult part is making them hang right. Clothes don't tend to hang right when they're only 1 1/2 inches long."
Sewing is the easy part for JoAnn. As a child in Marion she often made her own doll patterns.
"I just adapted them, but made them smaller," she explained.
One of JoAnn's most popular dolls have been her Santas. Different styles show the jolly man either in his red suit ready to distribute gifts or at ease at home with Mrs. Claus and the elves. He and Mrs. Claus are usually depicted wearing glasses, which JoAnn also creates.
"I use a resin to make the glass," she said. "The goal of most collectors is to make something look exactly how it is in real life.
"I've seen photos of Victorian rooms which you would swear were taken in a house somewhere, but it's actually a miniature room," she added.
Although JoAnn does not built dollhouses, she often creates small scenes which may depict a particular room. One such scene features a witch in her home, complete with her broom, a potbelly stove, tiny crystal ball, and even a spider and web in the corner. The other side of the scene depicts a front porch with two unsuspecting trick-or-treaters preparing to knock.
"One of the most fun parts is it makes you look at everyday things in a different way to see if they will work," she said.
For instance, a round glass bead became a crystal ball for her witch's room scene.
JoAnn usually works on about 12 dolls at a time, and fires about four dozen at one time.
"I'm constantly firing and dressing," she said. "I try to work on it about four to five hours a day, then garden the rest of the time. It's my own business so I can pretty much do what I want with my time."
JoAnn has made a success of her miniature doll business and her show schedule already is booked up for 2005. She attends shows in Phoenix, Ariz., Chicago and Peoria, Ill., Kansas City, Mo., San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif., and Denver, Colo.
JoAnn often teaches classes in the art of dollmaking during the various shows.
Usually shows have anywhere between 120 to 150 vendors. But the Chicago show, for instance, runs five days and usually has more than 200 vendors.
"The opening night of the Chicago show is only open to those with advance tickets. There were 1,200 advance tickets and they were all sold out the first of January," JoAnn said. "Miniature collecting is the second largest hobby in the world.
"There are active miniature collecting clubs in Wichita and Hutchinson," she said. "Miniatures have always been big. There's a show somewhere every weekend."
Over the past 12 years, JoAnn estimates she has made between 3,000 to 4,000 dolls.
JoAnn said she was fortunate to find a hobby which gave her such joy.
"I really enjoy it," she said with a smile. "It's such a treat to do something you love for additional income."
