This creative 81-year-old has been pouring her heart and soul into making dolls for the past 20 years, learning every aspect of their manufacture.

From pouring the porcelain into moulds and firing in her backyard kiln, to painting intricate jewellery around their necks.

Betty does it all.

Impressively she also designs the outfits herself and then sets about making them from tiny beads.

It’s a labour of love that Betty likes to call “medicine for any poison.”

If she’s having a down day she pours a doll.

“I’m in love with what I do,” she declares.

At any one time Betty usually has a few dolls on the go.

They vary in size with Betty having amassed a small collection of moulds over the years.

“Every Mother’s Day, every birthday I’d get a mould,” she smiles.

Betty will showcase her latest ‘Gibson Girl’ at the 2017 Wingham Show later this month.

She has been exhibiting her dolls for a number of years now but Betty’s early days of doll making revealed little of her potential.

Her first lesson was at a weekend workshop at the old Lincraft store in Taree. 

“I didn’t know a thing about making dolls and I nearly broke into tears!” Betty said.

But years of perseverance has seen Betty master her craft.

“I’ve got a lot of patience,” she admits

“It all goes back to patience.”

She also has a curious mind and a willingness to learn. And she is very grateful for the people who have supported her on her journey.

Some years ago she convinced a bead factory in Taree to supply her with their products even though she wasn’t a wholesale business.

One day she got a call to go to the factory because they were relocating.

“They loaded up the boot of my car with beads!” Betty explains.

Betty is so grateful for this kind gesture she has vowed to continue making her dolls for many years to come.