Name:

Joan Mansfield-Claxton


Where do you live?

I live in beautiful Sault Ste. Marie, right on the Canadian border in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.


What do you make?

I make mainly baby miniatures 4-6 inches in length. When I started sculpting a couple of years ago I made all of my babies with intricately sculpted clothes. Now I make a lot of them with soft, fabric bodies or even clay bodies with jointed limbs. Those seem to sell better. They're not as realistic until they're dressed, but then they move and feel so real! I love to make the larger 10 - 14 inch dolls too and someday I'll attempt a life-size baby!


Do you have a website?

My CDHM Gallery, www.cdhm.org/user/jclax and my personal website is coming very soon.


When did you first become interested in miniatures?

I have dabbled in art my whole life. I paint and draw, mainly pictures of children. I love to paint candid shots and try to take my own photographs. But I love variety too.

I had a great job in college as the artist for our local university's Planetarium. I've done a lot of sign work, murals, portraits, caricatures and so on. But there is just something about sculpting that has me totally captivated! I am loving it! My husband, Joe, started me on a collection of tiny miniatures about three years ago, knowing how much I love baby dolls. At the same time he bought me some clay and challenged me to make my own miniatures …the rest is history.

Where do you find inspiration?

Children are my passion! I am fortunate to work for our Community Action Head Start program so I see beautiful little faces all the time. I study faces, I watch expressions. Children are universally innocent and honest and I try to bring that to life in my sculpts. Of course, my own three children are always an inspiration!


Where do you sell your products?

So far, I sell my sculpts on eBay. That has provided me with a great opportunity to reach a lot of people. I'd love to find other avenues also. That's in the works!


What is the price range for your products?

My first sculpt sold for $15.00 US. Recently a 10 inch baby of mine sold for over $300.00 US! That's a pretty wide range!


Do you belong to any groups or clubs?

CDHM and OOAK Polymer Baby Sculptors


Do you run workshops? If so, please tell us about them.

I would love to offer workshops eventually but I am still learning myself.


What shows do you attend (if any)?

None


Have you made any special items?

That's a great idea! My coworkers have encouraged me to send miniature babies to ??? But, being the procrastinator that I am...


What do you love most about miniatures?

I just love working with my hands and watching the expressions take shape!


Do you have any formal training in your miniature field?

I took every art class I could at our local university, LSSU, but the courses were limited and didn't include sculpting. There was just one art professor, but he was a wise, talented man and he tried hard to get me to go to art school. Knowing I couldn't afford it, I taught myself through practice and trial and error.


What tool could you not live without?

A toothpick.


What's the biggest difficulty involved with working in miniature?

I don't know how to sew. It is all trial and error when I make the clothes and of course done by hand. But I'm enjoying that challenge too!


What's next for you and your creations?

I just recently signed a contract with Ashton-Drake Galleries. I have made them 6 prototypes to work with. Currently they are being fast tracked into production. If all goes well, they will be offered for sale. I will continue to make my ooak baby dolls and still offer them at auction. Hopefully, I will get my website done soon and do a virtual gallery.


What's your favorite season and why?

I love them all! Living in the north, I love a good blizzard, maybe because it's a great opportunity to curl up and sculpt! We get a lot of snow and it is beautiful. But I also love summer when I can be home with my children.


Favorite guilty pleasure?

I am pretty easy to please. Sitting on the raft at my folks' house on the St. Mary's river is pretty hard to beat! I also love my 1971 Airstream camper.


Biggest pet peeve?

Running out of either toothpicks or fountain pop…also when Joe doesn't make my coffee in the morning!


If you could go back in time, in which time period would you live?

I love the simple life and in today's world everyone is so busy, too rushed, too stressed. Even just a few years ago (quite a few) when I was a kid, life was a lot simpler and we were content with less. That's where I learned to be creative. My sisters and I use to have drawing contests on long sheets of paper towel! I always drew babies.


What's in your CD player right now?

Michael W. Smith, an absolutely marvelous Christian artist/musician


What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The smell of fresh coffee!.