Becky proves herself not only an artist, but also a craftsman. She starts the dolls with the wire armature which enables her to pose them. After casting, each piece is airbrushed with over twenty coats of a specially blended paint, and then antiqued. The resulting parts are amazingly lifelike, down to fingernails and sparkling eyes. The body is made of compressible foam and clothed in what looks like long, white underwear.
Most false whiskers look just like that . . .
Not these beards. Each hair is cut and applied carefully until a formerly bare skull and face becomes that of the fabled old gentleman. Becky, a high-energy artisan, has had to learn many skills in her determination to use only authentic materials. She now can make ti leaf leis for her Santas to wear and she melts lead so that their feet will stay on the koa wood stands. On her list of challenges is to weave their clothes on a loom and to learn to knit so that one of her creations can wear a fisherman's sweater.