My name is Anupama Pradeep and I am the designer and maker behind Madsbear Creations. Though my desire to make the dolls that I saw in my head dates back to my childhood, I started making dolls only about a decade ago when I stumbled across amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting in the round to create cute little dolls.But my forever fascination with Thumbelina, who represented for me the possibility of existence of dolls no larger than my thumb ,was satisfied only when I started designing my miniature dolls.

I have no formal training in arts or crafts and my doll making skills are self-developed. I started painting with watercolours from the age of three under the guidance of my mother and went on to win several prizes in painting competitions including a gold medal at national level while I was in school.The credit for waking my imagination at a very young age through Enid Blyton books and instilling a love for color and art goes entirely to my mother. In college,I did my Masters in Applied Electronics and worked for over six years with an IT firm before quitting.

Doll making is my second career and something I envision doing for the rest of my life.My skills and style have evolved over the years but my passion for my work,the innate desire to create remains unchanged which brings me to why I do what I do. Like most artists I couldn’t put into words why I made dolls. There were times when it felt like a frivolous pursuit, that I should be doing something that was more justifiable for the amount of thought, time and effort I put into my dolls. And it was not just because it brushes away the cobwebs and wipes the grime of the world from the windows of my heart and lets in sunshine into my soul. In my heart,in the deepest part of me I knew that doll making was my calling. And as always God answered my doubts in a manner that left me humbled and grateful.

In 2014 as I sat bleary eyed and fuzzy brained nursing my newborn son,I received
an email from a customer who had bought several of the angels I had made during my pregnancy. She wrote how she had started collecting angels to feel closer to her daughter who died of cancer. She talked about how her daughter had been her best friend and how she left behind two very small children. She said that my angels were the most beautiful she had ever seen and thanked me for making them. That email still brings a lump to my throat. The flash of clarity that came with the email gave me the courage to put into words what I had always known in my heart; that the purpose or path I envision and hope for my dolls and toys is that they bring someone joy, become family heirlooms, become a part of someone’s family tradition, that they get passed down generations, that they get gifted to loved ones, make babies and little children laugh, make adults smile and brings someone hope and comfort.That is truly why I create.

Look around and when you leave,if nothing else ,I hope you leave with a smile.