By Hannah Kelley
Making art is often a solitary activity, but in Kristin Englert’s case, it can also be collaborative and the foundation for new relationships. The doll artist produces precious silicone baby dolls, both independently and in combination with fellow artists.
Englert has lived her whole life in Minnesota. She gained her only sibling as an adult, so dolls and stuffed animals were her constant companions and sources of entertainment as a young child. Together, Englert and her toys would go on all sorts of real and imaginary adventures. “My dolls were my babies, and I did everything from changing them, feeding them, and bathing them to tucking them into bed,” she said.
She went on to share her compassion and nurturing nature with others as a certified nursing assistant. Although she started college with the intention of becoming a child psychologist, when Englert and her husband’s first of four children came along, she decided to be a stay-at-home mom. “My oldest daughter, Nadia, is how I got introduced to the world of reborns,” she said. “She loved baby dolls, and when she was about 2 years old, I was searching on eBay for handmade baby clothes and the word ‘reborn’ kept coming up. Curious as I was, I had to look into this ‘reborn’ word. I bought a doll that week and have never looked back.”
By 2006, just a year after beginning to collect reborns, Englert was repainting Lee Middleton dolls and working her way through other blank kits. With the support of her family, she began sculpting dolls from clay in 2012, and early attempts at making silicone dolls came about the following year. She said, “After months of trial and error, learning the materials, trying different techniques, and failing at three massively large silicone molds, I finally got it figured out! Ever since, I have been mostly focused on silicone doll kit production and slightly focused on painting and finishing silicone babies. I do plan to continue to offer more painted silicone dolls in the future. I mold and cast my own as well as produce for other sculptors in the industry.”
The journey to creating high-quality silicone dolls was neither immediate nor solitary for Englert. When she initially tried her hand at sculpting, she struggled to manipulate the clay in the way she intended and said, “Every head somehow ended up looking like a little old man with a flat face. I threw away dozens of heads before I ever got one I felt was suitable for silicone production. Looking back now, I still laugh even at that first silicone head I went forward with, but it’s nice to see where I started and where I am now.”
Within a year, she’d gotten the feel for sculpting but felt there was room for improvement. In 2019, she signed up for a class taught by Samantha Gregory and Nikki Johnson. She said, “Those two ladies are amazing at teaching you how to see different angles and how to structure a face to keep it looking like a newborn. They shared tips and tricks they learned through the years, and the class wasn’t only educational but also days of laughter and fun, which is in part what every aspect of this job should be.”
Englert has also received sculpting advice from Bonnie Sieben, who Englert said is a great mentor, dear friend, and incredible sculptor. The two were brought together when a molder/caster reached out to Englert for help with a repair for a doll they were casting for Sieben. Although the mold turned out to be unusable, Sieben fortunately still had the clay head. Englert had Sieben sculpt a body, and Englert attached it to the head to create Sieben’s first full-body silicone doll. As a thank-you, Sieben sculpted a portrait head of Englert’s daughter Layla and gifted it to the artist. Englert has been producing Sieben’s silicone dolls exclusively since 2018.
The molding and casting work Englert does is 100% her own, whether she’s using her sculpts or those other artists have asked her to cast. This gives her control over the entire process, so she can ensure all silicone dolls meet her quality standards. “My molds typically produce between 50 and 70 castings,” she said. “I do not make resin masters. I cannot remold if my molds break down, so I’ve had to learn how to create molds that can extend as far as I can get them.” Therefore, each sculpt is a limited edition, even if there are requests for more. Because the dolls are made on demand, Englert can give clients custom options, such as having armatures or drink-and-wet systems added.
Questions sometimes arise during the casting process and there is not always one right answer. In those instances, Englert finds it helpful to consult friends like Denise and Dan Osterhout of D3 Creation. Englert said, “We have shared back-and-forth with one another over the years, which has helped me visualize different ways to go about creating the same end product or even helps me visualize another method all together. Because we don’t fall into the trap of feeling competitive against one another, they have helped me tremendously through the years, and I hope my ideas have helped them as well. I think it’s amazing when you can find like-minded people to bounce ideas off of.”
Sharing ideas with the doll community is one of Englert’s current goals. She recently started a YouTube channel, @Siliconeartdolls, and has been uploading videos with helpful tips and tricks she uses.
With more than a decade of dollmaking now under her belt, countless memories have also been made, but two stand out for Englert. She said, “When I was working on reborn dolls, my oldest daughter, 3.5 at the time, had a sleeping reborn baby that I had made for her. We were at a convention center for a boat show, and she had left the baby in her baby brother’s stroller while we went into one of the yachts. When we were coming out of the yacht, security was around the stroller, as there was a call for security to come and handle an unattended baby. When we walked to the stroller and my daughter grabbed her baby doll out while security was staring down into the stroller, the lady who called nearly lost her mind. It was shock, and I’m sure a little embarrassment, but she was a good sport about it.
“I also have a finished silicone doll that was purchased by a producer for a Netflix series and was used for a birthing scene. That was very neat to get to see many months later when the episode aired.”
In a world where anything can be turned into a competition, it’s important to remember people are all works in progress and have different goals. Englert aims to bring happiness to others and finds the most joy seeing clients receive their new little ones. She said, “One of the things that I have kept in my mind is ‘always strive to outshine’ — not outshine your colleagues but rather outshine yourself! If you’re always striving to be better than your last, it’s amazing how far you’ll go.”
Silicone Art Dolls, LLC
