Elisa Gallea Biography

Elisa Gallea is 30 and lives in Sicily with her family.   She has loved collecting and making dolls since she was young.  She discovered Cernit about 6 years ago and fell in love with the medium.  She is excited to find she is able to create so many expressions when working with polymer clay.  She wants her dolls to look like real children by capturing specific moments, either pensive or innocent.  She works very hard on their faces to achieve that spark of life in their eyes.  She usually makes about 8-10 one-of-a-kind dolls a year.  Her favorite subjects are older children of about 8-10 years old and about 28-30 inches.  She poses them in specific positions and captures childish moments.  She mixes different colors of Cernit and Fimo in order to obtain several different skin tones.  She uses only the best supplies such as human or mohair, human eyelashes and glass eyes.  She enjoys designing and hand-making their dresses using silk, velvet, chiffon, Valencienne laces, etc.  Her dolls even have beautiful little handmade Italian leather shoes!  She completes the look with precious objects and accessories, such as silver mirrors, antique children’s brushes, vintage pins, elegant wood chairs or handmade pillows.