The Doll Farm: Heather Louise

The first time I saw a Heather Louise doll, I stopped in my tracks so fast that I nearly fell over. Seriously. My arms flailed around as I tried to keep my balance while the Dutch pedestrians passing me stared in wonder at the freak before them. It is hard to generate that much momentum while walking, but these aren't just any dolls. More like works of art with a wicked sense of humor and big shoes that are completely worth falling for.

From left: Bunny Girl Crow, Butterfly Dove, Red Bat Yellow Shoes.
All dolls handmade by Heather Louise.

Dolls with giant Marie Antoinette wigs and flirting lashes. Bat girl dolls with menacing pointy ears. Bunny girls and mushroom girls and queen girls all in full length dresses decorated with a quirky motif of some sort. Simply amazing and like nothing I had ever seen before.


The brilliance behind these dolls is Heather Louise, an artist now based in Brooklyn after a few years living in Amsterdam. She makes each doll entirely by hand from fabrics, buttons and beads found in her travels through markets and estate sales in Europe and America, and each piece is also accompanied by a hand-illustrated portrait card of the doll you buy -- art within art within art. Fantastic. You can find Heather's creations online at egg mercantile, or in their Amsterdam shop, the Michele Varian boutique in New York City and on Heather's etsy shop.

After getting my balance back and repeated visits to the shop window, I finally went in to buy my own -- the red bat doll with yellow shoes pictured above. She is very sweet, but just disturbing enough to freak people out. Perfect.

Above: Octopus In Marie doll with portrait tag.