Dee Dee & Robert Triplett

Fortunate to grow up with parents who were always inventive and very creative at figuring out how to make things that might not have been affordable otherwise, Robert and Dee Dee were taught how to do many wonderful things. Dee Dee learned sewing, simple carpentry, painting and even a bit of carving during childhood. Robert grew up with a mother who sewed and a father who tinkered and invented and taught Robert how things work as well as how to rebuild antique car engines.

Later, with small children of their own, Dee Dee and Robert started a business designing and marketing counted cross stitch designs and miniature candle screens and frames. Moving each time a job transfer called meant remodeling or building homes and work shops — seven homes, each built with a lot of ‘sweat equity’! Theirs has always been an interesting combination of Robert’s logic and Dee Dee’s often illogical “what ifs”.

Robert began working with his hands at an early age,”helping” his father who was a mechanic. Earning a degree in Electrical Engineering, he began a career in industry, eventually building his own company providing maintenance and mechanical services, always gaining the respect of those who worked for and with him. He pursued woodworking as a hobby, making furniture and cabinets for his home. Later on, he would focus on metal, continuing his education with hands-on workshops in copper and iron. Robert has taught copper smithing, copper fountain making, and has assisted in tin smithing, blacksmithing, and jewelry making classes at the Folk School.

Dee Dee earned the Certified Craft Designer designation with the Society of Craft Designers, and for many years worked as a free-lance needlework and craft designer for publications by Oxmoor House, McCall’s Needlework and Quilting, Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications, Rodale Press, and Lark Books. Her original art dolls appear in Lark’s 500 HANDMADE DOLLS book and one graced the cover of the premier issue of Art Doll Quarterly. Having taught doll making and embroidery at the Folk School for 22 years, Dee Dee is currently a Resident Artist there for doll making and surface design on fabric.

Dee Dee and Robert are both members of The Southern Highlands Craft Guild. Robert served as Fair committee chairman for six Fairs, with 200 artists each, and has served on the Board of Trustees.