Folk Art Fridays: JACKIE EBERLY

Welcome again to Folk Wisdom's Folk Art Friday!  Each week we feature an artist whose style reflects the Folk Art ethos and tradition.


THIS week, we are featuring JACKIE EBERLY, a talented artist who creates dolls in the old styles, using vintage materials and sometimes techniques...to capture the look of a doll from another time. Using lace, old buttons, old felt, metal, period correct jewelry, hairstyles, dress styles and more..her dolls evoke a bygone feel....


From Izannah Walker dolls, to Queen Anne dolls, Jackie puts many hours and details into her vision...


 1.Give us a bit of background on you and your art. What type of art do you do?
I make paper clay over cloth dolls,  I love the Victorian era cloth dolls, I especially like the Izannah Walker dolls. I started making dolls in 2000, and felt really compelled to create my vision of an old doll.  To be honest I really couldn’t say how many dolls I have actually made, as it truly is a labor of love. I enjoy making them, even though it gets to be tedious at times. The outcome is overwhelming, when to see a pic of a doll or to hold a doll I have made in the past, it strikes me with joy and happiness to know that I actually created something that someone else cherishes and loves!

2. What inspires you?
What inspires me now--and I say now because it’s an ever changing subject-- are old photographs, antique fabric and lace, "make-do’s" from days gone by, and the best inspiration of all is camaraderie with other doll makers.


 3. What, if any, art pieces/dolls of yours are your favorites?

I think my fave is the one my mom still has to this day, its the one i call "soldier girl' in blue with the brass buttons on the bodice. My daughter helped in the dollmaking process!

You can find more of Jackie's work at:  http://plain-n-simpleblog.blogspot.com/