ARTICLE - MEET COLLIII AWARD WINNINGPERUVIAN DOLL ARTIST CINTHYA AGURTO SALAS

In 2011 Peruvian doll artist Cinthya Agurto Salas won the Colliii Award for "Best Special Effects". We met up with her for an exclusive interview and to find out more about this artist....


Cinthya Agurto Salas is one of the leading doll artists from Peru and she entered the worlds largest doll making competition in 2011. It was her second time to enter the Colliii Awards (which are held each year) and her Reborn doll "Miguel Angel" was nominated by the public for several awards. The jury finally awarded the doll with the "Best Special Effects" award and you can find out all about Cinthya in this interview:
Colliii.com: What is the life of a reborn artist like?
Cinthya: For me it is more than a job, it is a way to express myself. After suffering several health and emotional issues I have found a way to express and release myself in this beautiful art form. I was so happy to discover reborning!
Colliii.com: Congratluations on your success at the 2011 Colliii Awards. This wasn´t the first time you entered though. What motivated you to keep trying?
Cinthya: Thanks for the compliments and to everybody that voted for Miguel Angel! Being nominated and finally winning a Colliii Award has been a large milestone in my carear that is for certain. When I was nominated I was thrilled, and when I found out I had won I couldn´t believe it.
Colliii.com: What made you enter the doll that finally won?
Cinthya: Well I have to thank my good friend and customer Barbara for helping me with the choice of doll. She encouraged me to enter this doll which I made for her and I am so happy that I did!
Colliii.com:What have you done with the winning doll? Do you still have it?
Cinthya: He now has a new "mother" and has a new "happy home", so I didn´t keep him.
Colliii.com: The Colliii Awards are the largest doll making competition in the world. How has the response been to your success?
Cinthya: I have a lot to be thankfull for! I has definitively helped me to be among the Colliii Awards winners as the competition is a great way to promote my art and let people see what your own art can be like.
Colliii.com: The doll market is moving in different directions. What kind of dolls are you thinking of doing int he future?
Cinthya: I love Reborn dolls but I love ball jointed dolls and also I would love to experiment with silicon dolls. I am currently experiementing with my own sculpts, so there is lots going on for me too!
Colliii.com: As an artist from Peru where do you get your inspiration from?
Cinthya: I love to do ethnic looking babies and I try to draw on my own culture to get inspiration. I am happy that that also gets accepted as I am very enthusiastic about it.
Colliii.com: How do you feel that Reborning has progressed in the last few years. What about the artists in general?
Cinthya: I would have to say that the overall level of the work has become very high. I think there will always be a market for Reborn dolls and when I have shown my work to people in my native Peru they have been very interested by it.
I can see the Reborn world getting better and more realistic for sure. I can imagine lots of new ideas coming on the scene in the near future.
Colliii.com: How big is the Reborn market in your current home Spain? Is it still growing?
Cinthya: The reborn scene in Spain is definitivly growing. The economic situation in Spain is very har so I am glad that I have several collectors that often buy my work.
There is a reborn doll show in Madrid in March which is being run by some collegues of mine, so it is growing for sure!
Colliii.com: What advice can you give new artists?
Cinthya: I would say they have to be confident of their own work and not be afraid to express themselves and try something new. I would advise them to look in forums for advice and techniques and get as much infomation as possible before starting painting.
Colliii.com: How can people find out more about your work or buy your dolls?
Cinthya: People can visit my website www.rebornroyalpalace.com or find me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/rebornroyalpalace or even send me an email on rebornroyalpalace@gmail.com

ARTICLE - INTERVIEW WITH MULTI AWARD WINNING DOLL ARTIST YVONNE WALTON

 

 

English doll artist Yvonne Walton won 2 awards at the 2011 Colliii Awards and we have met up with this Reborn doll artist to bring you an exclusive interview. Read on to find out more about Cornish Babies...

Colliii.com: Congratulations on your success at the Colliii Awards 2011. Tell us a little about yourself...
Yvonne: My Name is Yvonne I am 55 years old & have 2 grown up children a son & a daughter. I live in the beautiful county of Cornwall in the UK on the cliff top overlooking the stunning North Cornwall coast. I have a Hotel so am extremely busy in the summer months, but spend the rest of the year persuing my passion for reborning. I also have a web site www.cornishbabies.com
Colliii.com: What motivated you to take part in the Colliii Awards 2011?
Yvonne: I followed the Colliii Awards for the last 2 years & was amazed at the standard of work & the amount of entries. I think this is a wonderful competition for the doll world & gives by far the best recognition for your work it has to be the most prestigious of all awards worldwide. I was hoping to be recognized in the doll world if I managed to get anywhere.
I won 2 small competitions during 2011 & thought maybe I was ready to try the Collii Awards this year but I never expected to even be nominated. It is an honor & great pleasure to have received 2 awards
Colliii.com: What are you going to do with little Daisy who won the prizes?
Yvonne: Sadly for me little Daisy has gone to Ireland to a collector, who absolutely adores her. I miss having her around.
Colliii.com: How long have been making dolls for and what got into interested in it?
Yvonne: I have been making dolls since February 2008. My Husband introduced me to the art, he saw a program on the TV & recorded it for me to watch later he thought I might be interested in it. As soon as I saw people making these lovely babies I wanted to try & make one myself. My husband bought my first kit for my birthday in February & I have been reborning ever since.
Colliii.com: How long did it take you for Daisy and what was her inspiration?
Yvonne: Daisy took me a couple of months to complete I wanted her to be as perfect as possible she is such a lovely sculpt so delicate & the detail on her is amazing, I had seen a few Daisy’s on the forums & ebay & fell in love with the sculpt I just felt that I could make a lovely baby from her. She looked so adorable.
Colliii.com: What is your motivation for Reborning dolls? Is it a nice hobby or does it go deeper?
Yvonne: I love reborning unfortunately it is just a Hobby for the time being as I have a Hotel also. I spend all my spare time reborning, researching & trying new methods, I am totally hooked & love every minute of the reborning process. I have always loved dolls & babies as a child I spent hours on my grandmothers Treadle Singer sewing machine making rag dolls & dolls clothes.
I love the way you can create a baby, the way they come to life in stages I fall in love with them all Reborning is a wonderful art it gives so much pleasure to me & hopefully to the people that adopt my babies.
I have a daughter who lives in America & she has 3 children who I have never seen…I wanted grandchildren so much & missed out on them as babies so I guess the babies I make fill that gap to a certain degree. It has helped me immensely.
Colliii.com: Where can people buy your work? Do you go to shows?
Yvonne: I only sell my babies on eBay at the moment but hope to do commissions as well, I take quite a lot of time to do one baby & like to have them around for a little while when they are finished. I have not been to any shows yet but hope to next year.
Colliii.com: What plans have you got for the coming year? Do you think about sculpting your own dolls?
Yvonne: My plans for the coming year are to improve on my babies as much as I can by learning & experimenting with new techniques & materials & of course enter the Colliii awards again. I hope to start some sculpting in the next 12 months but want to continue reborning as well. I may start doing commissions now I have the confidence, thanks to the Colliii Awards.

ARTICLE - GERMAN DOLL ARTIST INA VOLPRICH NOMINATED FOR COLLIII AWARD 2011

GERMAN DOLL ARTIST INA VOLPRICH NOMINATED FOR COLLIII AWARD 2011

Last year Ina Volprich won an unprecedented 3 Colliii Awards for her OOAK dolls. This year she is back and has once again been nominated. Find out what she has been doing since her triumph in 2010.

Ina Volprich

Colliii.com: Congratulations Ina. Last year won cleared up with 3 Colliii Awards for your one of a kind dolls. What has happend in the meantime?
Ina Volprich: Thanks! this past year I have been busy making numerous dolls for the Eschwege doll show here in Germany. I have had one OOAK doll that has produced as a kit and little "Jaron" has been on the market since July 2010.
Colliii.com: After your amazing haul at last years awards, why did you decide to enter again?
Ina Volprich: I wanted to enter some of my latest pieces. I have been working on improving my skills and it was important for me to measure myself again. The Colliii Awards is a great way to see what collectors think of my work and that is why I entered Margarethe.
Colliii.com: What made you enter Margarethe? Were you confident with your choice?

Ina Volprich: Margarethe is a portrait sculpt of Margarethe Steiff. I was greatly inspired by the film about her, to see what a hard life she had and even though she had a hard time she still managed to create all those teddys which have been loved by so many people over the years. That was the biggest reason to recreate her and present her in this competition.

Colliii.com: How long have you been sculpting for now?

Ina Volprich: I started back in 2009 and have been making Reborn dolls before that, since 2007. I wanted to do Reborn versions of my own 3 children but could never find a kit that looked like them, so I decided to start sculpting. I made my first portait the same year in August and have been very busy since then!

Colliii.com: What do you do with all the dolls that you make?

Ina Volprich: I do a lot of portrait work for people that have asked me directly to work for them...so they tend to buy those dolls that I make. I sell some at doll shows and quite a bit of my work is at the Czech dolls museum "Muzeum Panenek a Medvidku".
Colliii.com: For those that cant make it to the Czech Republic, can they see your work online somewhere?
Ina Volprich: I have a website where I have all of my dolls and also add regular updates www.littlewonderkids.de