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A Brief Biography of Diane Jordens Growing up in Victoria, British Columbia on the West Coast of Canada, I was surrounded by capable, creative women who hailed from a long line of Polish Tailors. Somehow as a child, sitting at the feet of the masters, I unknowingly gleaned the inspiration and the ability to transform needle, thread, cloth and bead into small animal character dolls. In 1978 the first creation was inspired by that incorrigible rogue of a creature, Toad of Toad Hall, which I had been reading while living in a seaside cottage in Mill Bay, on the shores of Vancouver Island. Toad charmed me, along with everyone else who came under his spell, and thus began a long cast of other animal character dolls—Rattie, Mole, Badger and little hedgehogs—from which, "Toad's World," was born. I gradually began creating characters inspired by some of the other beloved stories such as Puss n' Boots, Curious George, Beatrix Potter, the ballet mice from The Nutcracker and many more. Over the years I have included animals conjured by my travels abroad; giraffes, elephants, leopard cats, zebras, panda bears, penguins, pigs and most recently, as a result of living under the daily flight path of one of the largest rookeries in the region, crows and ravens, reminiscent of the old Heckyl and Jeckyl.
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