No, not another Tim Burton flick. These freaky, starkly real resin babies that could cost you six grand to a lakh are Canadian sculptor Camille Allen's ticket to fame

Camille Allen

A curious chain email has been rapidly doing the rounds on the Internet, with pictures of lifelike miniature "marzipan babies" held in the hollow of a woman's palm. The first thing the newborn dolls' Canadian creator -- baby-faced Camille Allen -- does, when we track her down for an interview, is dispel the urban legend of the
marzipan babies.

"The emails have some false information about my babies. Some say they are made of marzipan (sweet cashewnut paste and egg white) or chocolate. It's not true. The baby dolls aren't edible. They are actually sculptures in polymer clay or resin."

She sculpts these exceptional dolls at her large, cheery studio in British Columbia, Canada, with a view of the ocean and mountains as the backdrop. Set in a heritage complex built in 1916, the studio is filled with dolls, doll parts, dolls-in-progress and sculpting supplies.u00a0

The inimitableu00a0 sculptures created at this inspiring workspace, have gained recognition world over. From the Magnum Opus Art Exhibition in New York, Montel Williams' talk show in the US, and the Dubai Doll Festival to Ripley's Believe it or Not and private collections in six continents.

Doll craft
Camille didn't have to look too far for a teacher. "When I was 21, my husband's grandmother Clara Allen -- who is a doll sculptor -- asked me if I was interested in sculpting. My answer was an ecstatic 'yes'. I've always been interested in sculpting. I loved playing with plasticine and clay in school." Over the next couple of months, Camille learnt how to make life-size baby dolls. "I did that for a year. One day, I had just a handful of clay to work with. I made a tiny baby with it. It was curled in a foetal position. I even gave it an umbilical cord, as if it was still in the womb, and placed it inside an eggshell. It fit perfectly!"

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