I grew up in Eastern North Carolina and have been a registered Radiology Technologist since 1964. The doll business really began as a hobby in miniatures in Indianapolis. I made exact replicas of houses and offices in a 1"/1' scale and my clients wanted "people" in their houses, so I took a course in porcelain doll making and made little 5" dolls to populate the houses. When my Mother became ill in 1984, I moved back to North Carolina and opened Judy's Doll Shop, retailing dolls, doing repairs and teaching porcelain doll making. I soon met Carrie and Charlie Miller, restoration artists who had studied with the MacDowells in Virginia, and I did a three year apprenticeship with them doing all their restoration in return for learning porcelain and china repair. During this period of time, I helped start a local doll club and we promoted doll shows for 7 years. We are a UFDC affiliated club and celebrated our 20th anniversary this year.
I have tried to stay abreast of all happenings in the doll world and have done sculpting, mold making, teaching, producing doll shows, restoration, lecturing and appraising at antique shows. Now, I try to limit myself to repair/restoration, lecturing, appraising, attending doll club meetings and of course, working part time Radiology at an Imaging Center.