About doll artist Kathleen Engelen

What was so typical for my sculptures during my child hood, were the tiny details on my work, and after more than 20 years of sculpting, it still is.

I mostly work with the colours bordeaux and pink, all kinds of green shades and sometimes blue. But most of all I work with white. A white dress and white angora hair. It gives a mystery to them and they are my favorites. And for some reason I miss these white fairies the most, once they're gone and are adopted.

Finishing my fairies

I never use molds and every doll is one of a kind. The eyes are painted and I only use the finest (natural) materials. Mostly I use silk for their dresses. I like to embellish them with gemstones or crystals, like swarovski crystals. I also love glass beads.

Other fairy artists

When you sculpt fairies yourself, you realize more than anyone else what another artist is able to do. You know how hard it is and they went through to make a fantasy sculpture. I'm a huge fan of Diane Guelinckx , Tine Kamerbeek, and Wendy Froud.

Fairy Art

To me, my fairies are art and therefore I put a lot of myself in them. The themes that keep coming back are “feminity”, “serenity”, “freedom” and “vulnerability”.
I get inspired by lots of things, like music. Mostly Belgian rock music, like Ozark Henry, Zornik, dEUS, Zita Swoon, Hooverphonic, etc... but also Evanescence, Tori Amos, Björk, Kate Bush, Placebo and Muse. A mystical atmosphere can also inspire me, like the moonlight in a warm night or a winter scene.

About myself

How it all started

Years ago, I must have been around eleven years old, my mother came home from a fair. She brought something she thought was something for me, some books about how to clay tiny figures with fimo. I immediately started sculpting, and how they were right! I fell in love with this clay immediately and still after all these years I still love to sculpt with polymer clay. I love the way you can put so much details into your work

Making fairies with polymer clay

During my child hood, I have sculpted a lot of little bears, mice, music boxes, etc... But then I had seen it all, and kind of lost interest. Untill some years ago I met Diane Guelinckx and saw how you can make these beautiful fairies. It was a meeting that changed my life. I went on course with her, and it was fantastic! I immediately started sculpting all kinds of fairies. Then came the idea of starting my own website, where everybody could see my work. I got a lot of possitive reactions, wich moved me to experiment even further. People all over the world could see and buy my fairies.

Refinement

Through the years I bought a lot of documentation to be able to sculpt more perfectly. Katherine Dewey's book learned me more about sculpting, for instance the anatomy. I also started painting my silk en started to mix the fimo the same colour as the silk. The last book and DVD I bought was from Wendy Froud, which I absolutely recommend! But of course you learn most by trial and error and always wanting to make better sculptures. I'm also a perfectionist and I don't give up easily, and that's a good thing for a sculptor. :) By mixing different methods for sculpting, I developed my own way of sculpting my figures.

Doll fairs

A few years ago I also participated some doll fairs, like the international doll fair at Rotterdam. I was a great experience, but very tiring! But it was so much fun to do and to see the reactions of the visitors.

Profession

I'm also a graphic designer, and design logos, all kinds of signs, websites, etc....