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Susan Williams is a born artist. She has had no formal art training past high school. She draws and paints, but her main interest is in polymer clay sculpture and fine craft making. She has participated in art exhibits occasionally, including the Creative Arts Guild Festival in Dalton, Georgia, and Plum Nelly.

She is known for Keepsake Pins ^TM, handmade brooches, and polymer-clay dolls. Keepsake Pins ^TM were large diaper pins with hand-sculptured baby faces covering the top of the pin. Susan made hundreds of sets of these in the 1980's. She also made many hand-made brooches, inset with buttons and glass and crystal beads, polymer-clay molded beads, and hand-sculptured decorative pieces, such as ladies' faces.

Susan's polymer-clay sculptured dolls are most popular with admirer's of her art. She makes very few dolls, but they are so realistic, they should really be considered as miniature original sculptures. When people see photographs of the dolls, they often think that they are viewing a photo of a real person. Susan has made several tiny newborn-infant dolls, some with movable limbs. They range from about three to seven inches in length from head to toe. She has also made a few stylized baby dolls, which have more of a porcelain-doll look than a real baby look. Often, she makes tiny toys to go with the dolls.

She has made two old granny dolls. They are inspired by old family photographs, though they are not strictly portraits of any one person. Still, they very much have the appearance of the people of the Appalachian region. The granny dolls stand about twelve inches high from head to toe. Often, people will ask her where she buys the faces and hands of the dolls. Of course, she does not buy them ~ she sculpts them. She starts with several small pieces of polymer clay in white, transparent, flesh, and pink colors and softens them to easy pliability by working them in her hands until they are soft and warm. She blends the colors until she gets the flesh tone that she wants. Then she shapes the head by pinching the clay with her fingers. She works in the details of the face by using toothpicks and straight pins to prick the lines and wrinkles into the face. She forms the hands in a similar way.

After the head and hands are sculptured to her satisfaction, she bakes them according to the instructions on the polymer clay brand labels. After baking the head and hands, she then uses paint (artist’s acrylic tube paints) and a very fine hair brush to paint in the details of the face and hands, including age spots and wrinkles on the granny dolls. Susan sculpts the dolls’ socks and shoes, boots and shoestrings as part of the legs (that is, the shoes are not removable). She chooses a polymer-clay color, such as brown or a brown-and-black blend to make the shoes. She uses pins and toothpicks to press in wrinkles and creases to make the shoes look worn. After they are baked, she paints highlights and "worn" spots, using acrylic paint.

The artist next sews a cloth body for the doll. She uses soft muslin (usually purchased in second-hand stores) and craft batting to make the body, which is hand-stitched. She does not use a store-bought pattern, but simply sketches a rough pattern of her own, to suit the proportions of the dolls’ head and hands. After completing the body, she makes the clothes. This is her least favorite part of creating the dolls. Usually, she uses old found materials, antique materials and bits of lace and materials purchased at flea markets and second-hand shops. Batiste, muslin, and thin cotton are her favorites. She prefers old materials, as they have the soft, thin quality that will easily curve and drape softly around the doll’s figure. Newer materials usually create a thick, clumsy, "too big" look. Also, the older material will have an appearance of being worn, as real apparel would look. Every detail of the clothing ~ dresses, skirts, petticoats, bonnets, sleepers ~ are hand-stitched. She uses really tight, tiny stitches.

After she completes the doll and its clothing, she then makes or buys and modifies miniature accessories to go with them. One of the baby dolls, for instance, had a tiny broomstick horse with a cloth head. Another doll had a polymer-clay ball, painted to look like a painted wooden ball. Her Santa Clauses have sacks of tiny handmade toys, usually of an antique-looking appearance. For one of the old granny dolls, she made tiny paper packets, about ¼-inch square, and painted them to look like packets of flower seeds. The old granny doll pictured on this website is holding a mandolin, which is a store-bought miniature. This doll has recently been donated to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee, north of Knoxville.

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