Eve on INSIDE EDTION - aired on 1-31-2008

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Making Babies in the Oven?

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 1/31/2008

Though she says some may find her business strange, Newsom says it gives her much pleasure to create the lifelike dolls. To set the paint she's added, Newsom puts her dolls in the oven. Elizabeth O'Malley is overjoyed with her new arrival - a "Reborn" from Eve Newsom's kitchen!		Elizabeth O'Malley is so excited because her new baby has just arrived -- in a box! This isn't just any baby, it's an incredibly lifelike doll. But that is of no matter to O'Malley who's just as excited as if she were welcoming home a real baby. The new mom even has the crib all ready! O'Malley's baby was "born" in another woman's kitchen! Eve Newsom couldn't have babies of her own. After seven miscarriages, Newsom decided that she create baby dolls - and she would do so by "cooking" them in her oven! Newsom is a rare breed of doll maker. She creates what she calls "Reborns" at her home in Florida. Using paint, glass eyes and scary looking tools, Newsom "rebirths" ordinary dolls into extraordinarily lifelike babies that fool most people at first glance. Newsom told INSIDE EDITION after her heartbreaking miscarriages she derived great comfort from the dolls she now creates. "I love babies. I've always loved babies," said Newsom. Realizing that she could not have any babies of her own, Newsom said she knew that when she saw people transforming baby dolls into very lifelike babies, she had to do it. To Newsom, the dolls she makes are real. She tenderly changes their diapers. She cradles them, and even washes their hair. When Newsom travels, one of her babies always rides with her -- in a car seat, of course! "There are people that don't get it. They think it's sick. They think it's twisted. They think it's morbid, but I say to each his own. It's not hurting anybody. In fact, many of the dolls I create give people so much pleasure," said Newsom. Today Newsom is taking her newest creation, little Kristin, to buy some clothes. It's no wonder so many people are fooled as it takes Newsom about two weeks to "rebirth" a doll. Extraordinary attention to detail is important to Newsom. First she paints tiny blue veins where they would naturally appear on a real baby. A touch of white paint then transforms the doll's orangey skin into the peaches and cream complexion of a real baby. Then, though it may seem creepy to some, Newsom carefully places the baby parts onto a cookie sheet and bakes the paint on in her oven! Once the paint is baked on, Newsom uses a two inch prong to implant goat's hair into the baby's head. When she's all done, Newsom's creations sell for $800 and up. Women like Elizabeth O'Malley are happy to pay it. She ordered a "Reborn" to look exactly like her daughter did when she was born.
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I'm really NOT a Demi-Goddess!!!! LOL

What's with the opening "I'm not a Demi-Goddess!" you ask?

First, let's establish what a Demi-Goddess is. I've copied and pasted the online dictionary definition below:

1 : a mythological being with more power than a mortal but less than a god (don't I wish!!! lol)

2 : a person so outstanding as to seem to approach the divine : ergo ~ demi-god or demi-goddess of Reborns>

As much as I'd like to morph into one of these 'divine beings', unfortunately I'm restricted to being a mere mortal with 'opinions' that may or may not be unique to me and shared by some/many/none. It appears that certain 'subjects' tend to make many of us morph into demi-god and demi-goddess status, but I'm here to clarify a few things without elevating myself to such lofty heights.... lol. (if possible.... but it's a given that voicing our 'opinions' always makes us appear to think ourselves experts or authorities on a given subject, so it's a damned if you do or damned if you don't sort of dilemma, if you will... lol)

Without further adieu, I'll cut the formalities and get to the purpose of this post;

Are they 'fake babies' or are they 'Reborns?'

Well, to me... they're both... because they're ART.... they're 'my' Art, and I realize they're a few other people's ART as well.... and ART is quite subjective, both to the viewer and to the Creator. I do my best to create Dolls that are as humanly lifelike as possible because I am attempting to fool the eye of the viewer into thinking that what they're viewing is a 'baby' and not merely a vinyl 'doll'.

The consumers who purchase my Reborns (or fake babies) don't purchase them because they want an ordinary play doll, but because they're seeking after a Doll that appears to be a live infant. For what purpose is usually unknown by me... and I personally never thought about it prior to now.

I don't know about all of the other Artists in this Industry, but I take 'my Job' very seriously. I want to produce the most lifelike Reborn Dolls that I can.... and if people want to (subjectively) call them 'fake babies', then that's quite all right by me.... and if other people are 'offended' by that term (fake babies), then that's still all right by me.. lol. You have a right to be offended and I have a right not to be. Let's just AGREE to disagree, shall we? LOL

Just wanted my 'demi-goddess' side to be heard... now I'll go back to making 'fake babies'......

Don't slam the door on your way out OK?

Big Warm fake baby Hugs to ya'all!