Guests of Honor
Newest Guests of Honor: Lyn Raftis of esthetics by lyn, and Cheryl Austin, aka SDink
We are pleased to announce two more very special Guests of Honor: Lyn Raftis and Cheryl Austin! Lyn Raftis, of esthetics by lyn, or Thelyn, has been quietly providing faceups to the BJD community since 2005. Cheryl Austin, aka SDink, is a well known faceup artist whose work has been featured in FDQ and other publications. Lyn and Cheryl will be joining us for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as presenting a demonstration of their amazing faceup techniques.
Peak's Woods' Hyunjeong Lee and Kyungmin Lee are our newest Guests of Honor
GoGaDoll is pleased to welcome Hyunjeong Lee, also known as Pan on DoA, and Kyungmin Lee, the owner and designer of Peak's Woods dolls, as our newest Guests of Honor to the convention. Not only has Peak's Woods been offering beautiful and unique dolls for five years, but they have also recently done two popular collaborations with Haute Doll, DollHeart and Val Zeitler, the Marie Antoinette and Halloween collections.
The Peak's Wood philosophy is best expressed in Pan's own words:
" The Peak's Woods company was built on a dream of love for BJD in 2004, and the concept for their dolls is that they are each fairies. Peak's Woods' SD size dolls are called 'fairies of color' (FOC), and there are also 'fairies of bugs' (FOB) that are MSD sized dolls: each doll has its own symbolic color or bug. Peak's Woods meets doll lover's expectations and requests with strict principles and pride: everyone is truly welcome to Peak's Woods."
First Guests of Honor: Charles Stephan of Charles’ Creature Cabinet and Linda Stephan of Lin Murasaki Designs
Charles' Creature Cabinet and ThePigSite.com
Charles Stephan was born in Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. Both his parents were born in Jakarta, Indonesia. His mother is half Japanese. He’s been drawing and sculpting from a very young age. Charles held several solo exhibitions (pig art & character design) and is the author and illustrator of Van minivarken tot grote vriend.
From September 1999-2004 Charles was the Chief Editor of the Dutch pet pig magazine ‘t Knorrende Stopcontact. His artwork includes character and conceptual design, water colour drawings, paintings and sculpture. Charles is renowned for his ‘pig art’ and he is the creator/designer of the Alice Cherry Blossom ball-jointed doll, a joint project with Elf Doll Inc. He has made figurines and one-of-a-kind sculpts for years, and currently specializes in making his own line of artist-ball-jointed dolls and designer toys. Charles is the first ball-jointed doll maker in the Netherlands, and established the very first Netherlands based ball-jointed doll company, Charles’ Creature Cabinet, in Autumn 2008.
Charles Stephan made a surprise visit to our convention in 2008, but even though he wasn’t specifically scheduled for any programs, he proved to be such a popular attendee that we asked him back next year to be one of our Guests of Honor. Charles is the designer of the adorable little pig anthro, Elfdoll’s Alice Cherry Blossom, and recently started his own BJD company, Charles’ Creature Cabinet, featuring the whimsical Woodlings. Charles will be involved in several not-to-be-missed programs at GoGaDoll, including an exclusive talk with the designer and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Update! Joining Charles will be his sister, Linda Stephan, of Lin Murasaki Design. She is the leading outfit designer for Charles' Creature Cabinet, and designs handmade outfits and wigs for BJD.