Lisa Jameson aka Pepstar
I was born in Montreal, Canada in the 1960's. My parents were from England, as were my five older siblings. We migrated to the U.S. in 1970. I lived in San Jose, California up until Sept 2007. I then moved to Prescott Valley, AZ.
My family has a strong artistic side. I was blessed to have been born with an active imagination and began drawing in the fourth grade and continued through High School. Dolls were also a big part of my life as a child. I collected mainly Barbie throughout the years. Through high school, the doll collecting took a back seat to the art. I was taking three art classes a day. I loved to draw portraits in pencil and ink.
I continued to draw as I got older, mostly as a hobby and gifts for others. In the 1980's I moved to the Los Angeles area. I lived in Venice for 6 years. One of my room mates, Vicki Berndt, was an old friend from high school who was also an artist in her own right. She was doing portrait work as well but her canvas's at the time were the backs of denim and leather jackets. She was an inspiration to me. I dabbled in painting denim vests and jackets, mainly animated characters. I began collecting Barbie dolls again while I was in Venice, keeping them boxed and displaying them new.
I eventually moved back to San Jose. Everything took a back seat at that time, while I looked for work. I discovered Abode Photoshop, creating some interesting computer graphics and photo manipulations. It wasn't until late 1998 that I began doll collecting again and this is when I discovered the Tonner Fashion Dolls. I'd never seen anything like them. The first one I saw was on Ebay and it was a OOAK by another artist. I thought to myself, "I could do that!" And so began my fashion doll repaints. Goodbye Barbie dolls.
In 2005 I discovered the world of Ball Joint Dolls. Again...I'd seen nothing like them. When I received my first one, I was blown away. They became my new canvas and I haven't looked back. There are so many different companies and sculpts, it was exciting! The rest is history as they say.
I hope you enjoy my dolls as much as I enjoy giving them their new faces and personalities!
