Deb Sprouse of  Panache Repaints

By Lisa A. Lawrence

Deb’s first doll as a child was a Francie®.  As an adult, her first doll purchases were some Holiday Barbies®, which she “claims” she actually bought for her three girls (ages 3, 7, and 12.)  Yeah, right! 

The first doll she will admit was just for her was a Simply Gene® Brunette that her husband gave her for a birthday present.  Currently, Deb collects Gene, Tyler®, Ann Estelle®, and Cissy®.  She also plans to collect dolls from the new Christina St. Clair® line, by Doris Mixon.  She should.  She helped create them!

Deb is passionate about art!  While still in high school, Deb attended evening college art classes in another town.  Since she was still too young for a driver’s license, she hitched a ride with an older neighbor who was taking the courses also!  As Deb described her art studies, “I was a sponge wanting to absorb everything about different art techniques, mediums, etc.  I’ve always maintained some type of art class at all times during my education.”  Her education included attending the University of Iowa and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.  Her degree, however, was put on hold for the birth of five kids!  She figures she’ll return to school for her degree when her oldest children attend college.

Deb painted her first doll, a porcelain baby, for her oldest daughter’s first Christmas in 1990.   Since then, she has been restoring and repainting vinyl fashion dolls.  She didn’t start selling her dolls until she became fascinated with the work of Jim Faraone.  “I am not only a huge fan of his work, but of his philosophy also.” Deb stated, “I started with Barbie and friends and sold on eBay in 1998.  As I grew braver, I attempted the larger fashion dolls.  I am the proud owner of all of Jim’s books!”.

Deb prefers repainting the larger 15”-16” fashion dolls, such as Gene and Tyler.  And she’s always ready to branch out into other dolls!  “Tonner’s Kitty Collier® is a new one for me!” Deb stated, “I am finding her quite interesting and unique to work with!"

Deb’s husband, David, is a great supporter of her work.  When asked if she has another job besides her repaint business, she stated, “My ‘other’ job is currently raising five children.  Definitely full-time, but enjoyable nonetheless! 

My husband is my ‘rock.’  If it weren’t for him, there would be no time for dolls!  His job provides our main source of income and his “other” job begins when he gets home.  He takes over the kids so I can paint!”  

Until her kids are older, Deb can’t even entertain the idea of having a larger, commercial type business.  But she doesn’t rule it out for the future!  In the meantime, she is doing commercially related work by helping Doris Mixon of Fashion Boulevard on her new line of Christina St. Clair dolls and friends.   Deb created their facial screenings.

In learning how to repaint dolls, Deb took classes in porcelain doll making.  There she learned everything from sculpting and pouring to the finished product.  “All of my other education was purely from classes in pastel, oils, sketch, charcoal and watercolor.” Deb stated. “Learning to look at a model as a two dimensional surface was quite interesting and has come in handy while working with my repainting. I have a nice little library of art books, but my main study is on the actual human face. I would have to say that my work with repainting was trial and error. I did not have an actual "model" to compare my work to, nor had I actually seen a repaint ‘in the vinyl’.”
 

Deb finds inspiration for her dolls' faces in old silver screen stills, modern magazines, and from studying faces she finds interesting while watching movies.  She also uses coffee table hair books, like those found in beauty shops, for inspiration for hairstyles.  Up to this point, Deb hasn’t been inspired to paint the faces of any “real” people in her life.  She is much more interested in movie characters and hopes to add a few fully clothed character dolls to her future projects.

Her dolls usually take three days to complete.  “I allow time for paint and sealer curing.” Deb stated, “Then, I focus on the hairstyle and complete that portion before applying the lashes.  If the doll requires re-rooting, that usually involves another day or two of tedious threading, not to mention sore fingers!  Trent®, on the other hand, has an extremely hard facial sculpt that limits what I am able to achieve with him.  I have, however, created a Cary Grant Trent!  He was an interesting and enjoyable project.  Currently, I am working on rooting hair for Trent!!”  More sore fingers!

Deb considers her drawing skills to be much sharper than her repainting skills. “This is because it is easier to control the application of charcoal or lead from a pencil than it is a wet fluid from the end of the bristles of a paintbrush.” She stated.  When inspired to create a doll based on a particular actress, Deb studies the actress’ face shape to decide which doll to use.  Then, she sketches the face out on paper to ensure she has captured the features that are the signature of the model before creating it on the vinyl doll.

Deb works out of her 10x20’ sunroom which she has made into a home studio.  She has a sewing area, a painting area and a hairstyling area.  And, even though it IS a sunroom, she still has several task lights, including overhead lighting using outdoor halogens.

Deb’s dolls come with Certificates of Authenticity on which is a picture of the doll.  She does this for collectors who own several repaints to help them keep their dolls straight!  She also signs and dates her dolls, on their rear ends!  Occasionally, Deb writes story cards for her repaints.  This happens when the doll’s particular expression or look inspires her.

Deb has been, in her words, “very fortunate in that I have not experienced difficulty in selling my repaints.  A lot of my customers own more than one of my dolls, which is a huge compliment in itself.  Trying to predetermine what will be a hit with the viewing audience is the trickiest part.”  Deb sells her repaints on both her website, www.panachebydsprouse.com, and on eBay and advertises on Blossom’s Awesome Links. She also attends the National Gene Convention, where she either room sells or has a booth in the salesroom. Deb is currently taking a limited number of commissions.  

 Deb is not only well known in the doll community, she is well-loved.  She has a generosity of spirit that permeates everything she does.  She was often found on Vicky’s Fashion Dolls Bulletin Board, happily sharing her passion with other doll enthusiasts.  

Knowing that Vicky’s was so important to so many people's daily existence, upon it's demise Deb came to the rescue  by putting up  her own Bulletin Board, Deb's Dollhouse, http://members5.boardhost.com/debsdollhouse/   Now, Deb has hundreds of posts everyday on her new message board, with many very happy and grateful NEW friends!