About Me
Hello there! Are you a quiet introvert trying to live a peaceful life in an angry world? Then welcome to Fae Cottage! Let’s learn to better manage anxiety together.
My name is Janna, and I’m a doll maker and artist living on an island in the Pacific Northwest. One on my favorite ways to de-stress is talking long walks on the beach.
When my son was 2, I started teaching myself to draw during nap times. Later I began sculpting dolls and miniatures in polymer clay. After studying sculpting at Gage Academy, an art school in Seattle, I focused on improving my realism.
My favorite hobbies are making pose-able dolls, and learning to paint with watercolors. In addition, I enjoy sewing, and have been knitting since way before it was trendy.
I grew up around collectors and crafters from both sides of my family. My Grandmother was an watercolor artist who never met a craft she didn’t excel at. My Grandfather constructed a Sears Craftsman kit home, and my aunt designed maternity fashions. In addition, my father built a cabin cruiser that my family spent many summers on, cruising the San Juan Islands.
Not only did my mom knit, crochet, craft, and sew, she taught me the belief that if you can’t afford something, make a better one yourself.
And that’s why I first decided to sculpt a BJD in 2009. Our family didn’t have money for Christmas presents other than for our son as a result of the great recession, so I made myself a doll.
So many people say, “I wish I’d …. (fill in the blank), when I was younger.” Why not start now? I did, and you can too!
Fae Cottage was started when I began selling some on my dolls on eBay, and needed to think of a name for my fledgling company.
Since we live in the middle of a forest, in the middle of an island, and I was sculpting fairies and mermaids, Fae Cottage seemed like the prefect name!
The above painting is a watercolor I did for my mother to hang in her room at the nursing home. Hopefully it will remind her of my grandmother’s house, and the amazing, creative family she came from.
