PDX Profile: Erin and Jill Lynch, of Dolls For Friends

I squealed when I first laid eyes on Dolls For Friends - these cute and slightly-edgy little personalities practically climbed out of my computer to introduce themselves. They are designed and brought to life by Jill and Erin Lynch, who also run a design studio called eljl. I'd highly recommend a visit to the Dolls For Friends Etsy shop, where the product copy will have you giggling all day.

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How did Dolls for Friends come into being?
Jill and I had talked for quite a while on what we could do as a collaborative project. We always liked the idea of doing a project as a husband and wife design team, but the opportunity had never presented itself. Jill had started making little hand sewn dolls for herself and our kids as an alternative to a lot of the traditional, store bought products. We also had a hard time finding soft toys that we really liked in stores.

The rest was really just a very natural process. We started talking about putting together pieces as part of a project where we would create custom, handmade dolls in the likeness of individuals that we found to be inspiring from different media areas. These were people that we personally considered "doll worthy"; individuals that had inspiring personality traits that we admired. We wanted to create one of a kind art pieces that we could share with these individuals as a gift to say thanks for their inspiration.

After the first few pieces were completed, we started talking about doing other plush dolls that we could offer to everyone. It was an opportunity to create the types of dolls we wanted to make and that we thought other people would enjoy as well. We then started looking into craft shows, gallery submissions, an online presence, marketing and design. Essentially the building blocks for a brand new design team.

What kinds of things inspire your doll designs? And, how do the two of you collaborate?
Comic books, children's books, humor in everyday life, overactive imaginations, wishing that we were as eccentric as our overactive imaginations, movies, cartoons, quirky senses of humor, street art, the amazing and intimidating talents that already exist in the art world, stuff like that and more. Too much to list.

It almost always starts at the sketchbook level. We draw then we look at each others stuff, talk about what we want to accomplish with the piece, whether it's worth making and how it should be made. The fun part starts when we start to dig through our massive collection of reclaimed and new fabrics, vintage buttons and accessories. Materials are selected and played with until the exact look and feel is achieved. The doll is then sewn and photographs are taken. We essentially work with each other and give each other input from beginning to end.

What would you say are three things that a doll needs to have in order to be really lovable?
The expression and overall look of their face is right at the top of the list. So much of the actual "feel" of the piece is captured in the face. You can change the mood of the entire piece by how you handle the facial expressions and construction of each feature.

The next would be the shape and tactile feel of the body. Soft materials, squishy and huggable are major requirements for our pieces.

Third, the material selection and detail work of each doll. While we love the clean lines and feel of a line like Ugly Dolls (we own several), we also really like dolls that are layered and textured and are visually arresting. Just adding a few vintage buttons and some reclaimed material allows you to create something completely unique and special - a truly one of a kind piece, something that will be treasured because you know that you're doll is tailored to your personal tastes and that it's going to be the only one like that or one of very small line.

Do you have a favorite among the dolls you've created?
Erin: For me I'm really in love with the Hanetori line. We've done three versions of our little winged bird, and they get better with each iteration. We have plans to do a large scale, completely custom version later this year for a gallery in New York that we were just approached by, and I can't wait to see how he turns out. We also have some more "creature" based plushies that we're putting together, which really speaks to me due to my love of anime and comic book culture.

Jill: I so appreciate Erin's love of the creature/monster style dolls, although I tend to be a little more girly and love the sweeties like the jellies, my big doll Fifi (which I have decided not to part with), and I love the Hanetori dolls! it's so hard to decide, and this may seem like a contradiction, but I really really loved the Pigmo dolls we've done so far. Wait a minute. Oh, I don't know. I really love them all. Each piece is so personal for me, and I have a definite attachment to each one. I love to look at them, pick them up and admire them. They're quickly taking over our studio space!

How do you define the difference between "Art" and "Craft?"

We had originally talked about answering this question separately, but after talking about it for a bit we discovered that our answers are in fact very close with one another. We don't necessarily think there is a difference between "Art" and "Craft". We think that one is a natural extension (or expression) of the other. When you start defining the difference between the two you begin to set one up as being better (the subject of high brow art vs. low brow art is a real pet peeve of ours), or more valuable, than the other. Which again, leads you to the question of "What is Art?". It's so subjective, but we view them to be two parts of the same whole. It's all creative expression.

What are some of your favorite creative spots in Portland?
We really love the boutiques and custom toy stores (Missing Link, Oblation, Upper Playground, Compound Gallery, etc.) in Portland. There's a lot of local work in the shops that you can see and the abundance of creativity in this city is impressive.

The real creative spots, though, are out on the streets. We are huge fans of urban art, graffiti and public art display. There are so many talented individuals out there who inspire us with their body of work through spray paint, stickers, murals, stencils and installation. I know that many people view this type of work as more nuisance than anything else, but they fail to see the beauty and meaning in the work being produced. Street art is what helps to shape a city, to make it unique, and Portland has a strong community of writers who we admire.