DeeDee Jonrowe is latest subject for Iditarod doll-maker

WASILLA — For some people, growing older means growing up. But don’t try telling that to Judy Bowers, a bright-eyed, spritely 62-year-old who spends upwards of 12 hours a day with her dolls.

There’s Joe, Aurora, Libby, Dusty, Koyuk and her latest favorite, DeeDee. The handmade porcelain doll creations watch intently over Bowers’ left shoulder as she meticulously sculpts, paints and sews together another creation.

On Friday, two days before the official restart of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Willow, Bowers fluffs the replica summer parka on her new DeeDee Jonrowe doll.

The 18-inch porcelain collectible is realistic in nearly every detail. Jonrowe, who’s competing in her 30th Iditarod this year, is dressed in a pink summer parka and sports a wry smile. What sets Bowers’ creations apart is the fine details she sculpts into every face.

“I do all the sculpting, then I create the molds and then I pour in the porcelain,” Bowers said. “DeeDee was a challenge, because I actually started her in 2002, but because I got ill and wasn’t able to do things for awhile, I just now started it back up.”

Not only does Bowers recreate the faces of her subjects in fine detail, she also dresses them in replica clothing. It’s also an avenue for her to demonstrate her love of mushing and the Iditarod, which stated with a Joe Redington Sr. doll and continued with a replica of Libby Riddles, who became the first woman to win the Iditarod.

“The whole musher thing started because of Joe,” she said of her inspiration. “Then I started my Libby doll. I didn’t finish that project, though. But Joe kicked it off, then I have so much respect for Libby, and DeeDee is just a really fascinating woman.”

Along with racing in her 30th Iditarod, Jonrowe is one of the sport’s most popular figures and is also marking a decade as cancer-free. After a training run Friday, the Willow resident talked with excitement about having a doll modeled in her image.

“It’s just weird to look at yourself like that,” Jonrowe said. “But isn’t Judy talented? She really is. The more I’ve seen it the more I realize how truly difficult and artistic it is. You look at it and think, ‘Really, is that what I look like?’ It’s really flattering and quite a compliment. … I’m proud of it, definitely proud of it.”

While Bowers specializes in porcelain works of art, she’s also considering making plastic versions of her dolls that can be playable. At $300, the collectibles are high-end products, but she also wants children to be able to play with some version of her dolls, Bowers said. Maybe more than just children.

“No, you’re never too old to play with dolls,” she said. “And yes, I do play with them. I put their hands in different positions and I always talk to them. Like yesterday, I was moving Joe around and his hat went down into his face, so I said, ‘Oh, sorry Joe.’ I don’t even think about it, I just talk to them.”

As a little girl, Bowers said she remembers having a Shirley Temple doll, but it wasn’t fine porcelain like she creates.

“I never had a porcelain doll, they were all plastic,” she said. “I suppose I did want one, though. You know how little girls think, with the little porcelain doll in the wedding dress.”

While her finished product looks eerily life-like, her creations take months — sometimes years — to create. Bowers starts with clay and sculpts the features. Then, she makes a mold from the clay sculpture and pours the porcelain, which goes through two firings in her small kiln. Then she sands, paints and does the detail work like eyebrows and eyelashes.

It’s a hobby she’s recently taken up again after a prolonged interruption. Bowers originally started making dolls in 1991 and was starting to get quite a few orders for her creations, particularly a pair of Alaska Native children. Then the Miller’s Reach Fire wiped out her home in 1996.

“She had orders coming in left and right, and it was a lot of dealers calling,” said her husband, Bob Bowers. “So, she had orders for about 45 dolls and I was stuffing bodies and helping out. We had about 40 dolls up on the shelf and had five to go, then the Big Lake fire came in and destroyed everything we had. She’s just now starting back up from the fire.”

Along with losing all her dolls, she also lost her kiln.

“That was devastating,” she said. “It really took until just a few months ago to get my mind back into doing it.”

That Judy Bowers has drawn inspiration from Iditarod mushers is humbling, Jonrowe said, adding she was also impressed the first time she saw the Joe Redington Sr. doll. Jonrowe was impressed with the detail in the doll’s face, down to a scar where the “Father of the Iditarod” was once bitten by a dog.

“I love him and you look at that doll and you go, ‘that’s Joe,’” she said. “Judy’s an impressive artist. There are ice artists and canvas artists, and Judy is one of those (with porcelain).”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.