PROFILEjourneyinterview
I had found a picture of Elizabeth Taylor at the Academy Awards in 1954 that I felt embodied the young star. I created an interpretation of the dress that accentuated the fullness of the skirt yet showed her legs and feet, as I wanted to reproduce the shoe of the period, that white stiletto-heeled shoe.Those shoes! It took the model shop hours to grind into shape two tiny steel stiletto heels that were attached to the doll.
My goal for the portrait sculpt was to capture her at her most beautiful, in a place between the innocence of Father of The Bride and the somewhat hardened, yet immensely beautiful face of Maggie in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. There was another reason for this. To come up with the ultimate,yet age-flexible portrait sculpting that could be successfully utilized for the planned production dolls. This would enable the design of the face paint to transform the face for each proposed product. I worked with videos,and the aid of a computer, creating my own stills, printing off at least one hundred. Capturing her face from every angle, from a number of films, over a period of time, I gave these to Frederick to begin work on the clay.
The next part of the process of creating the doll was to analyze Ms Taylor's body shape and body language.This was carefully calculated, and drawn. She had the endearing habit of holding her arm as if she was holding her cocktail purse and supporting her draped fur, so this, I had to capture. The schedule was tight on this doll and Frederick had a fashion doll he had been working on that. We decided to use this doll as the base for the Elizabeth Taylor body and apply my design developments to it. As designer working with a sculptor, it is not a question of handing over research material and drawings saying 'make this'. We work together closely, always available to check, direct, consult and discuss the best move towards the best results.
As project leader, I had to make sure each player in the project was keeping to the schedule. From myself as designer, through to the model shop and chemistry lab. Designers did not normally cross the threshold into these areas and these guys were not used to responding on the creative level, but to technical issues. For instance, the skin tone for the Elizabeth Taylor doll required many experimental samples to be made in the chemistry lab. Color was to be added to the epoxy. Ms.Taylor's coloring is special and distinctive. This was probably the most important decision to be made in the development of the head and body of the doll. When the day came to make that decision, Frederick was away on jury duty. The decision fell on me, alone. When the first doll came out of the mold I was not sure. In fact, I quickly placed the doll in my grey tin cupboard and locked it shut. The uneasy feelings that ran through