Kristen Ashford of 

Kristen's Creations

By Lisa A. Lawrence

Born in Alexandria, Virginia while her father, a career Army Officer, was stationed at the Pentagon, Kristen soon moved to Duncan, Oklahoma where she had a typical small-town upbringing which was not at all typical for someone with an army-brat background. 

Kristen’s mother, Sonya, is an oil painter who has studied with some of America’s finest art teachers.  Sonya made sure her two daughters, Kristen and Juleigh, grew up seeing fine art in museums and shows.  While they were still young, Sonya gave her daughters drawing and painting materials. 

Eventually, Kristen and her sister began to collect and create their own paper dolls, a hobby which prepared Kristen for painting fashion dolls today.  “Juleigh and I found that we could have any doll or costume we wanted and it didn't cost a thing if we painted it ourselves.” Kristen recalls, “We painted mostly famous actresses of the thirties, forties, and fifties. But I think we had the most fun doing the crew of the Star Trek Enterprise. I did Counselor Troi and Ryker while Juleigh did Data and Worf. We did others, but those were the ones we enjoyed the most! Mom still has them somewhere.” 

“Around Thanksgiving of 1999, my sister called and told me that she had discovered, at FAO Schwarz in Minneapolis, a wonderful fashion doll based on a fictitious movie star from the days of Hollywood's Silver Screen.”

Kristen recalls how she discovered fashion dolls, “She had bought Iced Coffee and she wanted Mom and I to order some Genes of our own so that we could 'play' when she came home for the holidays! I bought Bird of Paradise and was amazed at her costume and her quality. After seeing her, we started looking online, and we were hooked! The three of us decided to pool our money and bid on a large collection of Genes on eBay. We won the auction and were so thrilled. It was great fun deciding who got what out of that huge box!”

 While Kristen now has mostly Genes and Tylers in her collection, she also couldn’t resist Sydney (not many can!) and some of the Alex dolls!  Kristen loves the clothes that Madame Alexander  makes for Alex and frequently uses them for her contemporary movie stars, such as Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and others. 

Several months after purchasing their large stash of  Gene dolls at auction, Juleigh met some other Gene collectors on Fan Appreciation day at FAO Schwarz.  Fortuitously, they told her about the repaints on eBay. With her sister’s discovery, Kristen just had to try doing her own repaints.

 “Using tips and instructions from those first generous repainters,” Kristen remembers, “I did my first repaint for eBay. She sold for over $200 and brought an e-mail response that made me feel like part of a wonderful new world! I was so encouraged that I began to paint as often as I could while my first child, Katie, slept at night. I was working part-time then as a contractor doing technical writing, so my painting was really just a fun hobby.”

Initially, Kristen dreamt up the faces she painted.  Then, someone asked her to do a Liz Taylor repaint.  “After that I was really taken with the idea of doing portrait dolls.” Kristen states, “I did a lot of the classic Hollywood actresses: Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Vivien Leigh. So many people wrote to me and asked me to keep doing celebrities! And I loved the fact that I  could give other people so much dolly fun doing something I loved doing!

Once a year, Kristen and Juleigh collaborate on a doll for the Gene Convention charity auction.  “This year, Juleigh made a gorgeous chainmaille costume, just stunning!” Kristen states, “We chose to make our doll Scheherazade of A Thousand and One Arabian Nights and that's how I painted her, using a Blue Fox Gene provided by Ashton Drake.”

Asked which doll is her favorite for repainting, Kristen answers “My favorite doll to paint is Gene because her hair is wonderful and her face sculpt, a classic oval, is perfect for portraits. I also repaint, or at least enhance, many of my own and my mother's Tylers, Sydneys, Mei Lis, and Esmes.  Recently, I've started painting the Tonner dolls for collectors as well.”

Kristen’s repainting has progressed from being a “wonderful hobby to being a wonderful job.”  She finds it extremely fulfilling to stay home with her children, Katie who is now 5 and Conner who is 2.  “I never dreamed that I would be able to do this kind of ‘work’ for a living!” Kristen states.

 Now that Kristen is able to paint dolls for a living, she’s very happy to be able to take commissions. “I have found it really enjoyable to work with people in creating their dolls. People have great ideas! Kristen states, “Once, I had someone ask me to paint a silver toe ring on a Julia Roberts repaint because Julia apparently never goes anywhere without one.  Another collector asked for a 4x6 photo of her doll for framing. That gave me the idea for my certificates of authenticity which are cards that include a real 4x6 photograph of the doll.  I always give people an opportunity to see pictures of their commissioned doll before I ship it to them.”

While Kristen often sells on eBay, she also has her own website: http://www.repaintsbykristen.com.  At the request of her customers and admirers, Kristen keeps displayed there many of the pictures of her sold repaints.

Asked if she has any interest in having a “Tyler” type of business, Kristen declares, “If you mean a large business where I would delegate many of the details, the answer is no. For me, the thrill of repainting dolls is creating a new doll every time. Working with people to create the dolls they dream of ---and the creative process itself--- is such rewarding work that I'd like to keep my business small and personal. And it definitely is right for me in my life at this time.”

Kristin has always loved to draw people.  “Even in grade school, I drew pictures of cheerleaders for the other girls.” She remembers, "I took a few art classes in college for fun and dreamed of perhaps becoming a portrait painter someday.”

    Kristen finds her inspiration for her doll’s faces from a variety of sources, including “a certain type of popular beauty, a photo in a magazine, an illustration in a fairy tale.” She states, “Even the base doll itself, with an unusual hair color or hair style can be the inspiration.  But what you think you're going for in the beginning and what you wind up with are sometimes two very different things! A developing face has a way of telling you what is next and assuming its own personality. In fact, that's part of the excitement for me!

“Portrait dolls, on the other hand, depend entirely on the features and personality of the subject.” Kristen asserts, “That's exciting for me too, trying to capture the personality and look of someone in a doll. Doing research for a portrait doll is fundamental. It may mean renting a movie or two, because you get a feel for the face in all its expressions. But it also means looking at as many photos of the person as possible. I narrow these down to a few photos that really help me to see the person's features. Once that is done, I wash, cut, curl, and style the hair so that I'll know while painting whether I'm getting the look I want.  

As I said, I never know what will happen when I sit down to paint a doll! Sometimes I get lucky.  After two long painting sessions, I will feel that I've captured the likeness of the person and have a finished doll. Other times, it takes critiques and several more sessions of painting to get it right. One great way to decide if you've finished the doll is to take test photos and look at her fresh on the computer. The camera magnifies anything that might need to be corrected!”

 “My mother has recently joined in the fun with me by specializing in Trent repaints.” Kristen states, “She calls them ‘Trentsformations’ but everyone else calls them "hunks"! It's hard to believe that Trent can be changed so drastically from his Silver Screen image to that of a handsome young man with today's look. Mom loves the mold and thinks that Mel did a great job with it!”

Kristen enjoys the entire process of doll makeovers, including the drawing, painting, hairstyling, photographing, etc.  She's lucky… many repaint artists are less than thrilled with the photography process!

Kristen signs and numbers each doll on the lower back and provides signed COAs that include a real 4x6 photo of the doll.  Her mother  writes the copy for the dolls Kristen sells on eBay. “She has written some beautiful stories about some of the actresses: Rita Hayworth, Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, to name some of the most poignant.” Kristen proclaims, “I heard from a lady from Ashton Drake who said the copy about Rita Hayworth made her want to bid on my repaint herself. My mother was so thrilled. That person did buy one of my repaints later and it's one of my nicest memories!"

While Kristen’s repaints pretty much sell themselves, Kristen still finds it a huge challenge to balance her painting with raising her children!  That’s where her husband, Daniel, helps out.  Not only does he have a good eye in helping Kristen look at her repaints objectively, he is great at corralling the kids for their baths and bedtime!  Kristen has, in her family and her customers, an excellent support system!