Missouri woman finds passion in porcelain dolls

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- As a little girl, Diana Friend never had the luxury of owning a porcelain doll.

Instead, she and her sister -- two of seven children in her family -- grew up playing with little black rubber dolls. Friend named her doll Rufus. Then came Walking Bride Dolls and her sister's China Doll that made her envious.

Today the Independence doll fanatic has no idea how many dolls she has collected or reproduced. But most of them fill her home, including her basement, where she does the making and the teaching.

"I've tried so many different hobbies or crafts, and doll making just satisfies that creativity in me," Friend said.

Friend started making dolls 28 years ago. The first doll she reproduced was the Bylo Doll.

In 1993 she downsized her business and she redesigned the basement of her home into her own office, Di's Dollie Friends.

Today that's where she teaches porcelain doll making classes and continues to recreate dolls for her family, friends or charity, despite her husband's death.

Every Monday and Wednesday night, ladies and sometimes a few men will spend a couple hours with Friend, recreating favorite antique dolls or reproducing modern porcelain dolls such as Good Morning Sugar Britches, Sarah and Amanda.

Friend said her class sizes can range from one to 15 students, depending on the time of year.

"I never know how many I am going to have," Friend said. "They come on their schedule, not mine."

All work individually, whether they have one doll or several they are working on. They help each other out. Many times the seasoned doll makers will help the new ones. However, each relies on Friend's expertise, and she coaches them to create the best dolls they can make.

"Everyone says I am a picky teacher, and they are probably right," Friend said. "But I will take you as far as you can go."

Brenda Gamble of Independence began taking classes from Friend in the late 1990s. She, like Friend, can't remember how many dolls she has made. But Gamble said her favorite dolls to make right now are antique reproductions.

"Antique reproductions are much more challenging because it has to be done exactly the way the original artist did it," she said.

It's the same way with modern reproduction in how the doll's features are painted and how it is dressed, she adds. However, Gamble said, with artist interpretation, a person can make a doll however they choose to do it.

Often, doll makers will create a doll that ends up looking like a family member, in the eyes, cheeks and lips.

"You usually paint who you love," Friend said. "Everyone could paint the same doll, and they would paint who they love."

Friend's students, who become her close friends, say it takes them usually three to five visits at two hours a piece to make a doll.

It's a hobby worth the labor of love for these women, especially to Diana Friend.

"I can see a doll whether it's nice, elegant or ornery," she said. "They are not just dolls to me they have a personality, and I create them to be whatever I want them to be, and I like them doing things such as reading stories or playing baseball."