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It
was the summer of 1979 when Linda found her niche.
A young mother of three,
set out on a journey that would take her
places she had only dreamed of. |
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It
was evident at an early age that Linda had been blessed with an artistic
flair. She comes from a long
line of family members that worked with their hands.
She is the oldest of three daughters born to Ralph & Peggy
Cook. Raised on a farm just
south of the village of Leetonia in northeastern Ohio, she learned to drive the tractor at 11 to help in the fields.
She was only eight when her mother, a professional
seamstress, taught her to sew.
Linda was a 4-H member for 10 years and accumulated numerous blue
ribbons for her sewing. The youthful tomboy spent her
youth
climbing tress, jumping from the barn rafters, and playing with the
animals.
Linda was 10 when her mom decided she
was too old to get a doll for Christmas.
Her interest quickly turned to paper dolls.
She and her childhood friend, Bonnie, would draw paper dolls on
notepaper while riding the bus to and from school.
She was the first girl to take a class in Mechanical Drawing at
Leetonia High School. Following
graduation in 1964, she set off for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to
study commercial art, now referred to as Graphic Media.
After graduation, she married her high school sweetheart. They
have three grown children, six grandchildren, and thirteen yorkie fur
babies.
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In 1976, I began taking ceramic lessons at a local studio,
just to get away one night a week. After doing all sorts of ceramic
project I discovered porcelain and china painting winning Best of Show in a
local ceramics competition. Soon after that dolls sparked an interest and
in 1979 I exhibited at a doll show that was to become a 28 year long career.
Beginning with antique reproductions, I quickly became bored and tried my hand
at sculpting my own original dolls. Starting from scratch I sculpted the doll parts, making the plaster
molds, pouring the porcelain, cleaning, firing, and painting the
porcelain, assembling the bodies, designing and sewing the outfits, and
then doing my own marketing and website. There was not doubt this was my true
niche. I was considered on the "A" list of doll
designers, winning numerous Public Choice Dolls of the Year and Dolls of
Excellence awards. Over the years I designed for several major
doll manufacturers and have appeared on HSN and QVC with my doll
designs. In 2000 I discovered my registered copyright designs were being
ripped off by 6 different doll manufacturers. And that year also began to
to feel the effects of a slow down in the collectible market.
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| Detail of hand
painted Paperweight-Glazed™
Eyes |
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Granddaughter
Emilee
with her Emmie doll
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| OOAK direct
sculpt |
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Linda is an accomplished seamstress and
photographer, a self-taught doll maker, sculptor, mold maker.
Her original dolls realistic hand painted Paperweight-Glazed™ eyes
became a trademark of her work.
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| Detail of hand
painted Paperweight-Glazed™
Eyes |
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In 2002 she switched directions just to have some fun doing fashion
doll repaint makeovers. |
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Once again she has experienced a transformation and is concentrating
on OOAK direct
sculpt originals.
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“I
am a firm believer that everyone is born with a special talent.
It’s up to you to discovery what your special gift from God is
and what you will do with it. Life
is like a roadmap. It depends
on which road you take as to where you will end up.
There are many hills and valleys along the way.
Some roads are smooth sailing and straight while others may be out
of the way and bumpy with lots of curves.
I have never been one to take the easy way.”
“ I remember my dad asking me,
“If your friends were to jump off a bridge, would you follow them?”
Being a young teenager, my answer was definitely a yes.
I have come to realize that just the opposite is true.
I am not one to follow the crowd, rather I make my own way and do
my own thing. I closely
follow what other artists are doing and then try to come up with something
completely different. Many
artists come into the business thinking they are going to make money.
If you don’t have the passion for it, find another line of
work."
"When I set off to exhibit at my first doll show
back in August of 1979, my husband thought I had fell out of my tree.
He actually thought that dolls were for kids and really felt that 'This
too shall pass'. That was in 1979. Without
a doubt, I've been blessed from above. Not everyone can say they
really enjoy what they do for a living."
When the collectible market tanked,
Linda searched for employment, "a real job". She worked for a
company doing painting and wall papering for a couple of months.
In late summer of 2005 she was hired at JoAnn Fabrics for a seasonal
stint. Then in March of 2006 she began her new career at the Salem
Home Depot. Starting off as a cashier, she also worked in credit
and the Service Desk. In July of 2007 she was moved to the paint
department. It was a welcome move and is referred to as the paint
queen by her co-workers. Her talents are not wasted as she does
special signage for her Salem Ohio store, #3877. The phone will
ring and on the other end will be an associate, "Linda, I need a favor!"
The paint department is now also the art department. Not only does
she create unique signs for the store, she also gives a free hands-on
faux finish clinic twice a year. "I try out a lot of the
products to see how they work and pass on my findings to customers."
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First sign created for the paint department |
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In October of 2008, head cashier
Debbie went to Linda as asked a favor for a customer.
JoAnn's brother worked at Home Depot in NC and had passed away
and she was hoping for a special painting to be part of the
memorial service given by his co-workers. Linda went
straight to work and created the Special Delivery for Ralph.
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Special Delivery for Ralph |
| Linda suggested that
JoAnn have all the associates sign their names to
the sign. |
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In July of 2009, Home Depot celebrated 30
years and the Salem Home Depot celebrated their 4th year.
Linda created created these special corn hole boards for the
picnic celebration that were to be raffled off. A
decision was made to raffle them at the Christmas party.
As luck would have it and part of her plan from the
beginning, Linda won the game boards and donated them back
to her store to hang in the break room, where they had been
for months. "They just seemed to belong there."
Any associate can borrow them at any time. Not
shown are the signatures of all the store associates.
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A four foot tall Homer was created in a
week for Garden Gold Cup, where each garden department in
the district compete for the honored Gold Cup. Yes,
we won! Now Homer greets customers when they enter
the store and has even played Santa for the Hardware Gold
Cup. |
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Homer's
entire body, except his head, was made from products available at
the Home Depot.
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Not sure if you can tell by my
apron what department I work in! |
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"Although I miss the doll
business, my doll artist friends and collectors, I have made a new
set of friends at the Salem Home Depot. The paint department
can be grueling at times and those gallon cans feel like they weigh
as much as a five gallon bucket by the end of a shift. The
bottom line is we have a lot of fun and are a family. I look
forward to returning to dolls after those paint buckets get just too heavy
to sling around anymore. After all, I'm old enough to be most
of my co-workers grandmother!"
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Linda with
her three dimensional Homer figure
created from spackling for the paint department.
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| The simple bit of kindness
earned Linda an Executive Homer Award, including a person
hand written note from the CEO of Home Depot, Frank Blake. |
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Executive
Homer Award received January 1, 2009
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Celebration of Service 9-11-11 ~ 11-11-11
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| Another Gold Cup
Winner |
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