We all remember dolls from childhood, either our own or those of
family members, some new and some antique. In the latter
category, facial expressions exhibited variety. For those
sensitive to detail, one could imagine some of those baby dolls
spoiling for a fight. Dolls resemble human beings, and handmade
dolls today most often express more than physical likeness. As a
young girl, Louisiana artist Lucy Landry sewed. She grew up in a
family where generations of women nurtured this skill. For Lucy,
“The thread of needlework provided a window to the past and a
door to the future.” She appropriated scraps from her mother’s
sewing projects and fashioned clothes for her dolls. She refined
her skills in later years by working on any kind of fabric in
the production of slipcovers, shoes, fabric for walls, and fiber
dolls. It was during her research of handmade dolls that she
discovered the intricate detail that could be achieved with a
needle, and she was hooked. Her professional training as an
occupational therapis