Brooke Cunningham's love for babies and dolls is innate. By the age of four, her personal collection
boasted over 50 baby dolls. When Brooke was a little older she began cutting babies out of catalogs, gluing them to cardboard,
and making clothes and blankets for themout of scrap fabric. And, her passion for dolls only increased as she aged. Cunningham
began making her own soft-sculpture fabric dolls when her daughters were little girls. Originally she would make the dolls
for her girls and her friends' children, however, that was short lived. People began seeing her creations and placing
orders. Before long Brooke's soft sculpture babies were in the Borgotta & 5th Avenue Shops of Scottsdale, Arizona!
Although Cunningham enjoyed making these babies, they lacked the realism she wanted.
Moving
back home to Indiana afforded her the opportunity to take Reproduction Porcelain doll classes. Although her new porcelain
dolls sold well at local doll shows and area craft fairs, the babies still were not as realistic as Brooke would have liked.
Then, one day an article in Contemporary Doll Collector Magazine about one-of-a-kind babies by Adrie Stoete-Schuiteman, Linda
Webb and Eva Helland provided incredible inspiration. Cunningham rushed out and bought polymer clay and began trying to sculpt
babies. Although she was discouraged when her first creations looked like "little old men", Brooke did not
give up, instead she decided she needed helpand enrolled in sculpting classes. The experience proved invaluable, and eventually
provided the realism Cunningham had been longing for. Enthused, she bought book after book with photos of babies and
focused on getting every little detail of a real baby into her sculpted babies.
Cunningham
has sculpted all sizes of babies, but prefers to sculpt babies 4"-8" and occasionally a preemie baby 14"-15".
All of her babies are on cloth bodies to make them very cuddly and extremely poseable. The dolls can now be found in many
private collections, and are carried in several doll shops throughout the United States and Europe. Babies range in
price from $200- $1200. Cunningham now absolutely loves sculpting her babies and takes a special pleasure in watching each
and every one of them "come to life" and develop their own personality. Her heart is filled with a special joy knowing
that her God given talent and deep love for dolls has brought so much happiness to so many collectors.
Brooke feels truly blessed to have a wonderful husband, family, and friends who encourage and support her every step
of the way.
