An artist has been making tiny sculptures of babies that fit in the palm of your hand.
All made by hand, Canadian Camille Allen, 35, often spends several weeks creating each one, starting with just a ball of clay.
Features are delicately carved into the clay as if using a craft tool, ending with an adorable tiny newborn ready to show off for your customers.
Explaining the process, Camille said: “From a lump of clay and tiny tools, including toothpicks, the sculpture of a life-size or miniature baby begins. It takes many, many hours of patient concentration to form a lifelike baby and finish with fine details, including wrinkles and nails.
The babies are in soft English mohair to imitate fine baby hair and are colored with realistic paints to bring out their little wrinkles and folds.’
Camille’s craft skills were passed down within her extended family, after her husband’s grandmother, Clara Allen, taught her to sculpt life-size baby dolls.
The life-size dolls inspired Camille to try her own creations, specializing in miniature babies, which she has dubbed ‘Egg Babies’.
Camille said: “The first miniature baby I made was curled up in a fetal position, and I even put an umbilical cord on it, like it was still in the womb.” The shape and size of the baby appeared similar to an eggshell. I tried this, and the baby fit perfectly inside an egg!
‘This is how the idea for “Egg Babies” was born. I believe that the fragile newborn baby is complemented by the shell of the egg, which reminds us how fragile the new life is and how gently they must be treated and cared for. Later I tried to sculpt a baby inside a seashell, hence the “Shell Babies”.
The shapes and textures of the different seashells echo the soft curves of babies or provide an interesting contrast to emphasize them. Some Shell Babies have pearls in their belly buttons or are holding a pearl, like two little treasures found in one shell!
Camille says her clients love her work, and many people buy for reasons both sentimental and heartbreaking, including grieving parents seeking a form of therapy.
She said: ‘They really touch people’s hearts, often reminding them of their own children or grandchildren as babies. Many who have lost a pregnancy or a child are deeply moved.
“I have received hundreds of heartwarming emails, some that bring me to tears.”
Each item ranges from $99 for a single newborn to $1,500 for an intricate sculpture of embracing twins, and all can be found on Camille’s website.
