Pauline ‘Polly’ Dages
Polly Dages has been a member of the league since 1973. as her life caused her to relocate, she just transferred her membership from a branch in North Carolina to Fort lauderdale and back again, and now is a member of the Yucca Branch in New Mexico.
At age 92, Polly attended the Biennial in Washington, D.C. in April 2016, and was at every luncheon and event, sharing her gracious smile with everyone around her. When she spoke at the Biennial business meeting, she stated, quite simply, “In order to grow our organization, all you need to do is invite your friends.” What a truism!
Polly is defnitely a legend in the world of decoupage, repousse, moulage and other forms of sculptured decoupage. She studied oils at the University of Texas under Howard Tucker and began her experience with decoupage under the tutelage of Louise Hoyt, who was president of the National Guild of Decoupuers. She was a member of the National Guild of authentic Decoupuers, of which there were only 125 such artists in the world in 1973.
She used the pen name Pollydot and became so accomplished at her art that she developed her own style and her own materials, such as Pollydot filler and Pollydot Glasstique.
Polly built up such a clientele that she had her own shop, which shipped supplies to artists all over the nation. She taught adult education at Nova University and several on-board craft courses during cruises for the Paquet Shipping line, which sailed to South America and abroad. She also wrote books and continued to develop new forms of art, all the while continuing her dedication to Pen Women.
Polly was an active art member but wrote National President Maxine Lampshire in 1981 concerning the possibility of becoming a letters member also: “Maxine, I did publish the book myself (“Repousse and Moulage, the art of advanced Decoupage”) and sold 7,000 copies in a six-month period of time … and since then have sold 2,000 more.”
This remarkable lady included the following comment in the same letter to Ms. Lampshire: “I 
am currently involved with writing another 24-page ‘how-to’ book on our 18th century Christmas tree bells, describing the techniques which were used for our 9-foot tree in 1979 and our 12-foot tree in 1980 exhibited at the Smithsonian there in Washington, D.C. I do hope you got to see it.”
Pauline Dages was chosen to be the first of our Legends and Legacies to honor because of her dedication to her art and her decades-long faithfulness to our organization. Because of her passion for people with creative spirit, and to recognize a long overlooked and overdue part of her creative legacy, National President Virginia Franklin Campbell is sponsoring her for the category of active letters to stand beside her distinguished achievements in art. Polly truly exudes the spirit of Pen Women.