Featured Sculptor: Stephanie Tackett

Meet the Sculptor: Stephanie Tackett

Stephanie Tackett, also known as Stephanie Sullivan Tackett, is a talented reborn artist and sculptor with a rich history in the reborn community. Stephanie is a US based artist, originally from Florida, but currently living in Ohio with her husband, Steve, and her beloved dog, a Frenchie. She is mom to a daughter and has three lovely granddaughters.  She spends her time making dolls and running her supply shop, HunnyBun Reborn Supply, LLC.

Stephanie began creating reborns in 2002 and started teaching others the art in 2004. That same year, she expanded her artistic repertoire by delving into the sculpting of OOAK dolls from polymer clay. This led her to working alongside Pat Secrist of Secrist Doll Co., where she polished her skills, and where she was able to contribute to the creation of instructional DVDs helping to bridge the gap between hands-on craft and quality reborning education.

In 2009, she expanded her influence by launching her online store, where she makes available WaterBorne™ Air Dry Paints which she developed as an alternative to heat-set paints, and baking these vinyl dolls in home ovens. This new medium also enriched the artistic possibilities for reborning, opening up new avenues for artists to maintain quality while exploring innovative techniques.

Over the years, Stephanie has achieved several milestones in the reborn community. She has been honored with multiple sculpting and reborning awards, including the 2007 Inspiration Award at IDEX in Las Vegas. She has written comprehensive tutorials on reborning, including The Art & Magic of Reborning II and The Art & Magic of Reborning III, which cover rebrning techniques using both heat-set and air-dry paints.

Her dedication to the reborn art community is evident through her teaching, innovations, and commitment to ethical practices. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about her and I hope you do to!

The Interview

What brought you to the reborn doll community? 

Back around 2001, I had to sell a lot of personal stuff on eBay. I stumbled across some listings for what I thought were real babies and was shocked that people were adopting/selling babies! After reading a couple I realized they were dolls and was fascinated as I read listing after listing for hours! I began doing internet searches for more and more info. Shortly, I was out collecting the things I would need to make my first one and the rest is history!

What inspired you to start sculpting reborn dolls?

Back in the Yahoo and internet forum days, I “rubbed elbows with” a lot of reborners and sculptors who talked about and showed their work. Again, I was fascinated and began to think maybe I could do this. I bought a couple of pounds of polymer clay and jumped right in. After my first baby neaderthal was finished (lol) I bought a tutorial book by Ans Werker who I knew from a sculpting group. That was my first formal sculpting training, and the results were pretty good if I do say so. By 2004 I’d completed my “Michael” sculpt and when Pat Secrist saw it, he immediately invited me to Midland MI to work with him learning production doll sculpting. My reputation grew by leaps and bounds from that point on.

How do you decide on the facial expressions and features of your sculpts?

It just has to be something I like and feel I can master. I love variety.

Do you use real baby references or work from imagination?

It’s a combination of both, but I almost always find a real baby I like the looks of, grabs my heartstrings, and that’s my inspiration to start with. I refer back to the original photos for continued guidance.

How long does it typically take you to complete a new sculpt from start to finish?

Once I met Pat Secrist (Secrist Doll Company) and learned production doll sculpting (heads only), I could finish a head in about 3-4 days. To sculpt a full doll (arms, legs, head – maybe torso) it usually takes a couple weeks or three. A LOT depends on how much time I can devote to the sculpt and how inspired I am. Production sculpting is a whole different thing than doing one of a kinds or individual kits. When I’m on a roll, really motivated, it goes faster.

What materials do you prefer to work with, and why?

Polymer clay exclusively. It’s easily obtainable, several brands I like, easy to work with and can be baked at home.

What are the biggest challenges in sculpting a realistic reborn doll?

Realism. For me, it’s all about imitating life. When I find that my sculpt isn’t making me happy, I take a day off and try again. I’m not a huge fan of doing limbs either – I love doing the heads and faces. I also try to envision what reborn artists will do with the sculpt.

How do you ensure the proportions and details are as lifelike as possible?

I have a lot of reference materials with proportions, technical drawings, etc. I learned “forensic sculpting” in a live class with Phillippe Faraut (recommended by Laura Tuzio Ross) and that was a big leap forward in my skills. I measure, eyeball it, take multiple photos from every angle until I’m sure it’s as perfect as I can achieve.

Do you have a favorite sculpt you’ve created? If so, what makes it special?

“Kendall”. I’m not sure what made her so special except that she came together quickly and was a very popular kit. To this day, I’m happy to see the finished results when reborners show me a finished Kendall reborn.

What’s your process for creating limbs and body parts to match the head sculpt?

The same as #7. It’s about accurate proportions. I begin with hand-built foil and tape armatures and go from there.

How has the reborn doll industry changed since you started?

Oh goodness – too many changes to mention! I came in about 2002. We really only had commercially produced finished toy dolls such as Berenguer’s and Berjusa’s mainly back then, until Ashton Drake came on the scene along with just a few other doll companies. We had to tear them apart and rebuild them from bare, stripped-down parts. Late in 2005 Secrist began producing bare vinyl doll kits (there was another early kit company, but the name escapes me at the moment). That was a huge turning point in our industry. The longer time went on, the more realistic the expressions got. We moved away from smooth, unrealistic looking “dolly” straight limbs to well developed and sculpted arms, legs and then torsos. Expressions began to mimic life much better as talented sculptors began producing doll kits independently from the doll companies. There were a couple kit manufacturers such as JoyDoll in China, Bountiful Baby in Utah, LDC in Germany, and others in Spain.

What trends do you see emerging in the reborn doll world?

Of course, realistic human baby expressions, but also fantasy dolls and fairies etc. are very popular now. Baby Animals have also got a niche in the reborn world. The creative use of colors and textures has evolved a lot since the beginning. Painted doll hair is a skill many have mastered impressively. The transition into silicone has been interesting to watch. Of course there are the negatives. Counterfeiting has become a huge problem; one we need to work together to combat. AI is going to challenge us in ways we probably haven’t seen yet. I’m not a proponent of AI being involved in any way, shape or form with our industry.

How do you feel about AI-generated faces or digital sculpting tools?

Not a fan. AI has (in my opinion) the potential to destroy creativity and original art. When humans are no longer involved in the creation of dolls, what is the point, really?

Do you ever collaborate with reborn doll painters or other artists?

Not so far. I’ve mentored (and continue to do so) a number of artists and sculptors but have not worked on any projects with anyone.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start sculpting reborn dolls?

Good one! Start slowly, get lots of advice and training first. A few sculptors have innate talent and can rise to the top quickly, but most need lots of technical and artistic training and practice. Also, understand this isn’t an easy field to break into. Over the past 25 years it’s gotten very competitive and most fail. You will always have friends and well-meaning others who will gush and compliment your early attempts on social media but take it all with a grain of salt. Going from a lump of clay to a finished, realistic and attractive baby doll is hard work and takes skill and dedication. Once you have a small portfolio of finished work that has been honestly critiqued by EXPERIENCE AND HONEST sculptors and reborn artists, you may wish to look into whether you want to self-produce your own kits or approach one of the several kit producers (i.e., TruBorns, Irresistables, MacPhersons, etc).

Do you take custom requests, or do you prefer to work on your own ideas?

Early on, yes I did take custom sculpt requests. I quickly learned that was not for me. I can’t work with my hands tied.

Have you ever sculpted dolls based on real babies for customers?

Yes, several times. Again, the results rarely suit the image the customer had in their own mind – especially when it was a custom version of a real-life baby. I couldn’t take the personal disappointment.

Are there any dream projects or special themes you’d love to explore?

Right now I’m so busy running my business (www.hunnybunsrebornsupply.com) and developing and selling my WaterBorne ™ products that I haven’t got enough time for sculpting. I really would like to try a baby animal or two though, in the future.

Where do you see your sculpting career going in the next five to ten years?

Right now I’m on hiatus so I can’t really give a good answer 🙂

What’s the most meaningful reaction you’ve received from someone about your work?

I’ll remember it always: in a ladies room in Las Vegas during a break in IDEX festivities about 2007 or 2008, I carried one of my reborns in with me. Someone else asked to hold my doll, and yet another woman looked over her shoulder and exclaimed “Oh, for a minute, I thought you were holding a doll!” (think about that for a second)