Halcyon Hours

Established 1988

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About Helen Dickins

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Making dreams happen

Miniature toys and dolls that move and delight - visit the gallery of my work.

Origins

Helen is a Newcastle girl, attended Newcastle Girls High School, then Sydney University where she qualified as a pharmacist. After graduation, she married Ken, an RAAF engineer, then combined the professions of air force wife, mother and pharmacist, with frequent family moves until the final move to settle near Armidale NSW on a small property outside the town.

Hooked on miniatures

Always good at hand crafts, Helen fell in love with miniature dolls while living in Norfolk, England. She bought a tiny, handmade dressed doll on a chair, and decided to try her hand at her own dolls. Her first dolls were simple and presentable, and Helen was encouraged to try different mediums. Eventually, she bought her own small electric kiln and set about developing techniques to make tiny articulated dolls.

Other crafts

Along the way, Helen has turned to other crafts, starting at full scale with dressmaking, smocking, leatherwork and lacemaking, then adapting techniques to produce items in 1/12th scale. Most of her dolls have been dressed with some form of intricate handcraft. All her dressed dolls have clothes and shoes that can be removed, but only an intrepid doll owner would want to remove a doll's clothing as the dressing process requires great skill.

The collector

Helen is also a collector of the work of other miniaturists. She loves tin toys, teddies, trains, working toys, and dollshouse furniture.

Written by husband Ken to obviate coyness

Helen Dickins

Helen Dickins with a miniature doll on one of her 1/12th scale rocking horses.

Helen seeks realism in her miniatures; she aims for true scale in clothing, shoes and harness.