Artist Carlton Jones Shows Custom Figures Crafted From Fashion Dolls at the James McCabe Theater

It starts with the doll, more specially, the fashion doll. Even more specific than that, a doll that measures from 11.5 to 13 inches tall, which is the standard size of a Barbie doll. Or a Ken doll.

“Or,” added Carlton M.L. Jones, “A G.I. Joe doll.

Over the past 10 years, Jones has taken about 50 of these dolls — bought at stores or flea markets or recycled from yard sales – and transformed them into custom figures, many of which he had on display at the James McCabe Theater in the Greater Brandon community of Valrico on Feb. 14.

“The whole doll-making thing came to mind when I worked for the Sloane Museum in Michigan, as a high school student,” said Jones, who sells his creations through Montini Lerosa Museum Dolls. “In that museum they had the history of the United States done with 12-inch figures, including a Hall of First Ladies. I was fascinated by that and I said, ‘I can make dolls, too.’ ”

And so he did.

“I dibbled and dabbled with cloth dolls for maybe five year or so and then just kind of left it behind,” Jones said. “Then, about 10 years ago, I was talking to a friend about ‘one- of a-kinds,’ we saw them on Ebay, and I said, ‘I want to do that again.’ I started making dolls for fun, for a hobby, and I sell them, too, on Ebay.”

On display Feb. 14 at the “Heart and Soul Scott King Art Show” were samples from Jones’ many collections, including “Celebrities,” “Literally Fairy Tales,” “Broadway” and the “Nightmare Before Christmas.”

The dolls mirror Jones’ interest in community theater, with dolls portraying shows he has starred in, costumed or directed (“Hello Dolly,” “Mame” and “Jekyll and Hyde”) and shows he would like to stage and outfit (“Nightmare Before Christmas”).

To arrive at his finished production, Jones said he uses two techniques.

“One I call a ‘repaint,’ where you take acetone and strip the paint off a manufactured doll and repaint it, re-dress it and re-root the hair,,” Jones said. “You transform the doll into whatever you want it to look like.”

The second technique, “which is what I love the most,” Jones said, “is that you actually create the doll out of polymer clay.”

“With polymer clay, you truly create a custom doll,” he added. “You build a frame and build part of the figure in parts then piece it together like a puzzle, much like a sculptor would do.”

 The clay comes in bricks, Jones said. “You form it, then bake it and it gets like a porcelain finish. You but it in flesh colors then paint it when it’s done.”

 Each doll takes about two weeks to create, Jones said.

“It’s just fun to see them come alive,” he added. “You get started with tons of pictures laid out and you just keep working on it overt and over again until you get it right.”

Sometimes, though, “I just give up,” Jones said.

“I worked on one the other day that I gave up on, it’s Prince William, but I’m determined to get him right,” he added. 

In addition to his custom dolls, Jones owns an extensive collection of manufactured celebrity dolls. His sister gave him his first doll, or Marilyn Monroe, when he moved from Michigan to the Tampa Bay area about 15 years ago.

That collection has grown to more than 325 dolls, “the majority of them, I would say, have been gifts,” Jones said.

Why the interest in dolls 

“I would love to own a wax museum,” Jones said. “But since I can’t, I have a miniature one.”