Elisa Gallea in her own words
My name is Elisa, I’m 32 years old, and I live in Palermo, Sicily isle (Italy)…I have been making OOAK dolls since about 7 years, when, after some simple attempts, I discovered the “Cernit”, and I falled in love with it! I think polymer clays great…when I have a piece of clay in my hands…I’m so excited!…I have never attended doll making or sculpting classes…my only teacher was a dollmaking book found in a Art shop some years ago in my city…
I love childhood and I love dolls… I can create child dolls and so many expressions just only with my hands! I want make my dolls like real children, pensive and innocent…so I try to capture a specific moment of the children’s life into my creations…a girl who is waiting for her mom…or a little ballerina who has her turn for the stage…I want my doll have a “drop of life” into their eyes…a soul…I‘m proud when people look at them saying “she’s going to stand up!” or… “she seems to look at me!”…
I mix different colors of Cernit and Fimo in order to obtain different skin tones…as children have… my favorite subjects are older children- OOAK Girls- of about 8/10 years in about 24/30 inches, I use only the best supplies: mohair and human wigs, German glass eyes, lovable and little Italian leather shoes… I like both designing and handmaking their dresses using silk, velvet, chiffon, laces… My dolls have often vintage and precious furniture or objects: silver brush, wood chairs, handmade pillow and so on…
My inspiration comes from the real world or from the Fantasy, the tales, the pictures I find…or from my imagination as well! I’m going to create a special collection from famous painting and illustrations too!I love a lot making dolls…I can’t imagine my life without this passion now!!!