About the Artist

Trina Neher Ross has been a sculptor all her life, starting in fine art sculpture and, later, in commercial sculpture. For over20 years, she was a Senior Sculptor for Fisher-Price Toys. When Trina started doll making about 10 years ago she found no other work more joyous to do.

She creates her dolls in a small studio in her home in upstate New York. Her one-of-a-kind and limited edition dolls are generally styled in caricature.  Each one, with its own unique story, is portrayed in a freeze frame type pose, with a touch of added beauty, humor, poignancy, or just plain attitude.

Trina exhibits all over the United States and Canada, participating in juried shows along with some of the finest doll makers in the world. She has had many photographs and articles of her dolls in books and doll magazines such as Contemporary Doll Collector and DOLLS, and more. Her dolls have received numerous awards.

About the Dolls

The creation of a doll is a multi-faceted process, requiring various skills such as sculpture, sewing, painting, and wig making.

Trina sculpts the dolls’ heads, hands and feet. One of a kind doll parts are sculpted directly in air-drying clay. Parts for limited edition dolls are usually sculpted first in wax, then a plaster mold is made, and parts are cast in an air-drying, clay slip. These parts are hand painted and assembled on a wire armature, or skeleton. The body is fabric, muslin, which is stuffed, over the armature. This is similar, in many ways, to the method used for antique 19th century dolls, which used bisque or composition heads, hands and feet with a stuffed body of fabric or leather.

Costumes are designed and hand sewn, wigs are created, body parts painted, and accessories are hand made.

Trina prefers to create her dolls stopped in action, not stiff like traditional dolls. Using caricature, she tries to infuse humor or poignancy to each figure.

About the Artist
and Dolls

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