| In 1993 I made my first Cradle Board. I wanted a realistic looking Native American baby to put in it, so I used an old life-sized Berjusa doll that had belonged to my daughter. I took her apart and died her with Rit dye to darken her skin. I then reassembled her and blushed her cheeks with stencil paint. I ordered a black wig for her through a local doll shop and glued on some false eyelashes. At the time, it never occurred to me that my desire for a more realistic looking doll was something others were seeking as well. I was floored when, many years later, I discovered dolls on eBay being made exactly the same way! I made my first Cradle Board out of oak, used my router to engrave the wood, decorated it with bead work, and swaddled the baby in fur. The doll and her Cradle Board have been lovingly displayed in my home since 1993, and will be passed down for generations to come. (Years later, I touched her up again and rooted her eye lashes). In 2005 I started looking on eBay for a doll to use in another Cradle Board I was making, and discovered Reborns! I was sooo excited! What really caught my attention, though, were the dolls with rooted hair. I couldn't wait to try some of the ideas other people had come up with! My next "reborn" was a Berenguer. I bought the toy doll from a local store, took her apart, and stripped her factory paint. I used my dremel to smooth off her hair ridges. That was a lot of work and made a big mess, but after I had sanded her head and smoothed it with acetone, it looked pretty good. I then opened her nose with a drill bit. I dyed her in Rit dye as I had done on my first Indian baby, and replaced her blue eyes with new baby-gray ones I bought on eBay. I blushed her (again with stencil paint), but instead of blushing just her cheeks, I also blushed her ears, nails, creases, etc. That is as far as she got. She spent the next 3-1/2 years in a box with all the other reborning supplies I had started to collect, while I started my long journey through the medical maze. In September of 2007, I had my hair removed, my head and neck taken apart, and I got put back together with new parts! (See my "Chiari" page). Making Reborn Dolls and Cradle Boards have been the perfect artistic outlets for me. I love that I can incorporate so many different art forms into a final peace of work that displays two things I love - babies and Native American art! Because my symptoms change from day to day, so do my artistic abilities. The combination of painting, rooting, assembling, sewing, woodworking, bead work, shopping for clothes, photographing my babies, studying new techniques on the Internet, and working on my website, means that there is almost always something I can do to make progress towards a completed project, even on my "bad" days! |
| All Images and Website Design Copyrighted by Janie Keeling, Nuks 'n Crayonnies Nursery, 2010, unless otherwise noted. |
| How I Became a Reborn Artist |
| *NOTE: The Cradle Boards that I make are not authentic as I am not Native American (although I like to think I might have a little Native blood in me since I was adopted and my heritage is not fully known). I grew up in New Mexico and my father provided medical care to the Navajo women and delivered their infants. My family was invited to private events on the reservation and my parents were collectors of Native American art, so I have a deep appreciation and admiration for Native American people, culture, and art. |
| Gabby - my Sunshine! |
| Cindy (my Schnoodle), myself, and Jaden (my youngest) In front - Logan (my 1st grandchild). |
