We offer you an interview with Anna Terekhova - the winner of the IV season of the international virtual competition of author's dolls Gaudir

Anna, please tell us how long have you been making dolls and how did you come to it? Do you have professional education or are you self-taught?

- It all started in childhood. My mother and grandmother taught me to sew, and already at the age of 6 I started sewing toys using an old pattern book found in my grandmother's pantry. Later I got Barbie. What only outfits and accessories she did not have! I made everything with my own hands.

My love for dolls did not fade away in adulthood. Since my youth, I have brought back souvenir dolls in national costumes from every trip. I continue to add to my collection to this day.

I became acquainted with author's art dolls in 2013 at an exhibition. I was very impressed. I could not even imagine that such dolls could be made with my own hands... And when I learnt that it could be taught, I plunged headlong into the art of dolls. Despite being busy - work and family - I studied, learnt this science, tried, made mistakes and tried again.

I am a linguist by training. I worked for 15 years in a large aircraft manufacturing company and was involved in organising international exhibitions.

Do you remember your first doll, what it was like?

- I usually say about my first doll, "it's beautiful in its wrongness". I keep it as a talisman, but I don't show it to anyone.

Who did you learn puppetry from?

- I learnt from Olga Tamoykina, Lyuba Lukyanchuk, Svetlana Nikulshina and other wonderful artists.

What is your favourite technique and why?

I can work with different materials, but I prefer self-hardening materials.

I create and static dolls, and mobile. Big ones, up to a metre in height, and not big ones, 30-40 cm. I don't know which ones I like more - each has its own unique charm. The possibility to give a mobile doll any pose makes it quite alive... And in static dolls a moment is so beautifully captured - a turn of the head, a movement of the hand, hair flying in the wind... And always the dolls are different - each with its own character, facial expressions, mood.

Why did you choose dolls?

- For me, dolls are more complex and interesting than toys. And the more complicated, the more interesting.

What is more important to you in creating a doll, technique or expressiveness?

- For me, these concepts are closely connected in dolls. Even if the technique is high, without expressiveness the doll will not be alive, and if the technique is low, no expressiveness will help.

Maybe you have some personal secret of craftsmanship that you can reveal to your readers?

- The secret is simple - lots of practice. The more you mould, the better you get, etc.
It is desirable, periodically consult or be trained by high-class masters, so to speak, a course of advanced training, it will not give stagnation on the spot.

If your dolls suddenly stop being bought, will you leave this activity and find another one or will you continue anyway?

- I'll go on anyway. I can't imagine myself without dolls.

What winning the competition means to you Gaudir?

- For me, winning is another step up. It is very stimulating for further creative achievements.

Your wish for future contestants.

- Don't be afraid to participate! Participation is always a powerful push to create interesting work. Don't be afraid to lose! There are no losers in competitions.

Doll art is now my life's work. My works are in private collections all over the world. I regularly participate in exhibitions of author's dolls, I am a laureate of various thematic competitions, I am a member of the Creative Union of Artists of DPI, I take part in interesting project works.