Cate Avery

We are proud to present
Cate Avery
AKA (also known as)
Cate Avery Art Dolls



Wander through the studio of Cate Avery and you will meet the fantasy figures she has manipulated into existence from a lump of clay, an old metal nut pick, and a vivid imagination.



Cate Avery is from Dover, New Hampshire. She met her husband in the late 70’s, at an US Air Force Base near Portsmouth, NH and in 1991, following his retirement, they returned to the scene of the crime.



Cate is now a “Lady of Leisure”, lucky enough not to work for someone else anymore, so she can use her time to create. She’s always been artistic. Art was always her favorite subject in high school. She loves to draw. Tole painting was her first experience with brushes and pigment. Cate went on to take many painting classes and found that she preferred oils to acrylics. She now uses oils (primarily) to bring her figures to life.



Cate is also crazy about quilting, making jewelry, using vintage jewelry components and creating fashioned jewelry from wired ribbon and bits of vintage trims and buttons. She has a separate Etsy store for her jewelry, named Madeline in Moonlight.



Cate is an avid flea marketer/antique buff. She has a fantastic array of vintage beading, laces, and bits and bobs that she has collected over the years. She told me she adores the costume making part of doll creating, although sometimes it “hurts” to use her precious stash of goodies because she knows they can not be replaced.



Cate’s favorite season to create for is Christmas. She feels her Santas are her best work. We are all so glad she loves Christmas, because her Santas are truly wonderful! She told me costuming them (her Santas) isn’t as exciting or rewarding to her as costuming for her female dolls. She loves using luscious vintage silks, ribbons and beading.







Cate has a very supportive husband and beautiful daughter. He does all the grunt work, like getting her to a couple of local shows she participates in each year. Her daughter is her honest critic. Sometimes, Cate told me she knows when something is not quite right and when asked, her daughter, Bethany, can tell her exactly what it is that needs some more work or help. Cate says if she had to support herself with her art she’d be dead by now, but I doubt that, since she is so very talented. She believes it is a great luxury to be able to make whatever she wants, not what she thinks will sell.



Recently she has begun to incorporate her love of antiques into her sculpted figures. Her creation, “The Fortune Teller” sits on top of a lovely old clock case and her “Bird in a Gilded Cage” started with a vintage metal lampshade frame. She can’t wait to incorporate more “old stuff” into her work.



I asked Cate who inspires her and she told me one of her favorite doll artists is Forrest Rogers. She really loves her offbeat pieces.


I wanted to know what she collects for herself and found out rhinestone jewelry and she uses it to decorate a Christmas Tree, She keeps the Christmas Tree in her bedroom and, at this point, that tree is really quite stunning! She also likes all things miniature, beautiful carved gilt frames, vintage bead work, Japanese celluloid figures, and the list goes on...Cate thinks she sounds like a refined hoarder!! 



Cate is not limited just to doll making, as she has been dabbling in salvaged/recycled art. She is not sure of the term for this art, but it sounds good and she loves it anyway.



Cate’s dolls have been featured in The Contemporary Doll Collector Magazine, and if you want to take a peek, you can see more of her dolls, or purchase them, in her Etsy shop:

Etsy
Flickr
You can check out her jewelry at Madeline's jewelry box, full of romantic flowering brooches and spectacular statement pieces.
Madeline's Jewelry Box Etsy

I know we are going to see more of Cate in the future
she is very talented.