Surfing the web early 2007, I came across the site of Meryl Pringle (Matryoshkas and More), a Russian Doll collector and seller from Brisbane. Thinking about the Russian Doll my grandmother had given me as a child, I remembered how it used to intrigue me for hours. I also thought about The Beatles one, I purchased for my brother whilst travelling in Estonia. I thought there could be a story here. So I went through my writers bible-The Australian Writer’s Marketplace, published by the University of Queensland Press and pitched my idea to the editor of Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables.

The thing about freelance, is that sometimes you can pitch an idea just at the right time, which is what happened. A writer  had pulled out and the editor needed a story-in two days about the history of the Russian Doll. I researched extensively and contacted collectors and sellers in the UK and the US-who I might add were all very obliging. They even supplied many of the photos you see in this piece.

Check out

Dream of Russia Gallery, London UK

Babooshka Gallery, Devon UK

The Russian Shop, Illinois USA

The history of the dolls parallel the diversity of Russian history, but did you know the Matryoshka has Japanese origins?

The story made deadline and since then I have written many pieces for this magazine, which is funny as I do not possess one craft bone in my body!

That’s the beauty of writing!

You can read this story here.