Nicola made her first doll in 1976 when she was 9 years old; it was well received but Nicola thought she could do better.

There then followed a 28 year lay-off during which Nicola toyed with, among other things, silk-screen printing, embroidery, tapestry, beading (and an on-going DNA based joint venture project with her husband) before deciding that the time was right to once more turn her hand to doll-making.

It was in cloth doll-making that Nicola's eye for colour, texture and form, talent for fabric manipulation & design and skills in fine stitching & cutting finally found their ideal home.

After a few attempts at making dolls from commercial patterns Nicola quickly found that existing cloth doll patterns were not taking her in the direction in which she wanted to go.

Simplicity, Elegance, Fun and Finish became Nicola's watchwords, more watchwords soon followed such as Research, Preparation, Fabric, Character etc until Nicola decided to stop watching words and start designing and making her own dolls - a decision rewarded by more first prizes and Best in Show awards confirming Nicola's arrival on the scene as an original cloth doll artist.

In January 2005 Nicola became the first cloth doll maker in South Australia to win a Best Doll in Show award in direct competition with porcelain dolls.

Whilst still developing as a cloth doll maker Nicola nevertheless hopes to make some contribution to raising the profile of doll making from "craft" to "art" with the cloth doll artist recognised as much for their creativity and imagination as for their craftsmanship.

Nicola lives with her husband and young daughter, Poppy, in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia.