puppetmaker | RIP Susanna Oroyan

I never met her. I know a number of people who where good friends with her. I know a lot of people who took her classes or attended doll shows she was at. Susie O, as she was known, was probably the biggest influent to bringing art dolls to the attention of the main stream. Her books on doll making are what set me on a path that has been very interesting indeed. If I had not picked up "Anatomy of a Doll" in a book store back in 1997 there is so much in my life I would not have done. I wouldn't have taken the Wendy Froud doll course. I wouldn't have joined various doll groups on the internet that I now belong to. Something that is very dear to me would not be part of me if Susie O hadn't written that book and showed me the possibilities and potential in dolls.

She had been suffering from cancer for a while. This was not unexpected but still sad.

My sympathies go to Tom, her husband, and the rest of both her immediate and extended family and all those that her work touched. I know I am one of them.