Colliii.com: Hello and congratulations again Sabine for your Colliii Awards. Tell us a little about yourself.

Sabine:  Thank you! Well, I live in Germany near Bingen, which is near the river Rhine. I live there with my family and our dogs.
I started sculpting life size babies back in 2008. I have always been fascinated by life like replicas and for many years I did portraits of animals, especially dogs.
At the moment I am so buys with sculpting that I have left the portraits, for the time being anyway. I have to say that what started out as a hobby has become a real passion of mine, and it is a welcome break to my day job as a teacher.

Colliii.com: What was your inspiration for little Felice?

Sabine: I sculpted Felice after seeing a picture of a baby whose facial expression I found fascinating. I often sculpt using a photo as an initial inspiration, and then I often add and change little features later on. I sculpted Felice directly from what I saw on the photo.

Colliii.com: How long did you need to complete her?

Sabine: I can´t really say exactly how long I needed, but normally I can work on a head for 3 weeks or more, during which time I sculpt a little every evening.  Its a long process really, I often take photos of the head which helps me to see it from different angles and to correct little things that I wouldn´t otherwise see. I rooted the hair before putting her in my oven, that also took a lot of time! I think the whole procedure took about 5 weeks. I suppose I belong to the group of sculpters that are somewhat slower plus I don´t have that much free time to sculpt in.  

Colliii.com: What motivated you to take part in the Colliii Awards in 2009?

Sabine: I had only been sculpting for about a year when I had made Felice, so it was really exciting for me to enter a competition and to see what would happen, to see how my doll would be seen. I couldn´t believe it when my 2 dolls were nominated for the finals, I was over the moon! I had not expected that at all, and I was very much taken by surprise when Felice won two of the Colliii Awards. I would like to again thank all those that voted for her! It is a wonderful feeling to have your work recognised, especially by other doll lovers!

Colliii.com: How did you get into sculpting in the first place?

Sabine: Like many others, I started with Reborn dolls, that was back in 2006. Back then I thought of sculpting my own dolls too, but then I got pregnant,  my son was born and that kind of brought around the needed transition for me, after his birth I only wanted to sculpt. It is so much fun to make the dolls and to give them their own little expressions and to create them how you want them to be. Once you start doing it, its almost impossible to stop. Thats how it is for me at least!  

Colliii.com: Do you also sculpt other things or just babies for the time being?

Sabine: At the moment I am busy with sculpting babies. I am still learning the art behind sculpting. I have now "got" how to do the dimensions of babies, their sizes etc. I am working on improving my details and I am looking forward to getting even better in the future.  I will still need a lot of time and attention, but I am sure I will sculpt other things in the future too!

Colliii.com:  Many artists decide to have their sculpts reproduced in vinyl as doll kits, would that be of interest to you too?

Sabine: I have already had some of my babies produced and that was a like a dream come true for me!

Colliii.com: Thats great! Well Sabine we wish you all the best for the coming year, and we hope to see you again in the coming Colliii Awards competitions!