Cleopatra OOAK by Joe Bourland victim of recession

Sadly, another collector is forced to part with some of her more treasured dolls because of the recession.  I saw this nicely done OOAK Cleopatra repaint by Joe Bourland in my Ebay alerts today.

 Joe's MSN website is closed and I could not find any replacement. But, I found a brief bio for Joe (a woman) on another collector's website.

Joe was born and lives in west Texas. She started designing dolls in March of 2001 after being encouraged by her sister who is also a doll designer. She says her first attempt with a used Barbie and a few scraps of material from a nearby Wal-Mart was a nightmare but after several months and many scrapped designs later she really began to enjoy it. She is purely self taught and has no degrees or formal training but has garnered some impressive awards including the BMAA Reader's Choice and the Custom Dolls convention Best of Show. 


In addition to the Cleopatra offered for sale on Ebay, I also found images of several more of Joe's designs with a historical flair:

[Image: "Empire's Queen" OOAK by Doll Artist Joe Bourland]

   ["Emperor's Treasure" OOAK by doll artist Joe Bourland]

  ["Promise" OOAK by doll artist Joe Bourland]

If you're still out there, Joe, I hope you haven't stopped having fun with your doll designs.  You are obviously very gifted!