Doll maker is creating lifelike bundles of joy

DEFIANCE, Ohio (AP) -- Debra Markewicz gets so attached to the clay babies she creates that it's hard for her to let them go.
"I have wiped a few tears as their new parents carried the little bundles away," she said. "It's easy for me to get attached to them because I pour love into each one I create. And I see a bit of my own children in them."
Her lifelike dolls sculpted out of bars of clay have been sold to collectors across the nation and in Great Britain and the Netherlands.
At this year's Art Doll and Teddy Bear Expo in Washington, D.C., her doll named "Jaden" with a teddy bear tucked under his dimpled chin attracted a lot of attention, Markewicz said.
"I was surrounded by gallery owners and magazine photographers taking pictures and was approached by several seasoned art doll experts who were impressed by my attention to detail," she said.
Markewicz began sculpting infants three years ago, inspired by the birth of her first grandson. "I've never been into babydoll looking babies. I wanted to create figurative art that someone could hold and cuddle," she said.
Each baby takes several days to sculpt and is cured and hand-painted.
"The clay seems to emerge its own personality during the 'birthing process,'" she said. "It's always a surprise to me what characteristics will be born."
The dolls have arms and legs that move and a soft cloth body weighted to feel like a real baby.
She hand threads or applies real soft baby mohair baked into the scalp for the hair and the awake babies have imported glass paperweight eyes.