“The best valuation of my job is children’s joyful eyes”. dollmaker Mary Arakelyan and her characteristic dolls

Dollmaker Mary Arakelyan brings a fairy tale to our reality. Mary from Yerevan married with an Artsakh man and now lives and works in Stepanakert. “All my toys and dolls I interweave myself. For more than one year I started puppetry. It all started when my daughter asked to knit her favorite movie character for her. For the first try it was better and I began to get deeper into this type of art”, she told to Mamul.am reporter. “Making small toys with bobbin or knitting needle is a kind of Japanese art that is called “amigurumi”. Today, puppetry is one of the most popular and lovely artworks all over the world.” Mary's dolls are mostly characteristic. “At first people were somewhat distrustful of the fact that puppets could be characteristic. But after seeing one or two dolls many have started to inquire about them. The characteristic doll can not only be a good toy but also become a souvenir and a good memory for the future. Today I receive orders not only from Armenia (saying Armenia I mean Artsakh too), but also from abroad – USA, Europe (Portugal, Northern Ireland, Poland) and RF. For example, I had an American client who ordered a doll for his grandchild and after receiving it he liked it so much that ordered for two other grandchildren also. In making characteristic doll you should not only get the appearance of a child or an adult but also be able to convey his character, mood, feelings. If all this happens, the doll gets life. Almost all say that my dolls seem to be alive, as if they talk to you.” The dolls of MARY Fancy Crafts are completely assembled on a metal structure, due to it their hands and legs are folded, the body is completely mobile. The dolls are made of 100% cotton threads, and the clothes are from cotton or childish acrylic. Toys are completely anti-allergic. Making a doll takes 5-7 days depending on the complexity of the clothes. Apart from money the best valuation of my job is children’s joyful eyes. You know then almost all my clients write and tell me how their kids can’t separate from their puppets for days, they take it at night to sleep with them and even take them to kindergarten. They are so tied up that they can’t separate from their little ones for a minute. It’s the most favorite part of my job.” Apart from characteristic dolls Mary also knits so-called tiny human beings with different animals, fruits, cartoon characters and people.