Helen writes- I have a question for you…it relates both to art and to dolls..or any other creativity. Do you think it is possible to be original with anything
creative any more? Because I have looked at so many dolls, read so many
books, and seen so many, I feel sometimes that I don’t have an original idea
in my head when it comes to making them. Has that ever happened to you?

I wrote- My original dolls come from a tradition of old style dolls, but no one would mistake them for old. I think I make my newer dolls as a sort of family. They look friendly to me, beings I could know. I often find it hard to connect with people, maybe making my own people is easier? I don’t worry about “original” or derivative… I just do what I want to do. If someone thinks it is similar to someone else’s, great! tell me who it is so I can track them down and study their work! I have always found that being original is the worst thing you can do if you want to actually make any money… if buyers can’t fit you into a category, they aren’t willing to take a risk. This was true with my pottery.