Meet Mary Foltz of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Foltz.

Hi Mary, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My path to lifecasting started with my education in sculpture and over 15 years of experience as a mold maker, so the technical foundation was always there. The real turning point came when I noticed lifecasting as a popular service in Europe. I was completely stopped in my tracks. I had never seen a keepsake so meaningful, so deeply personal. It was art that captured something irreplaceable, a moment in time that would otherwise just slip away.
That sparked everything and I realized this was the perfect application for my skills, and that families in the Cincinnati area deserved access to it. So I built Ambrosia Lifecasting from my home studio, and I haven’t looked back. Every piece I create is museum quality, highly detailed, entirely unique, but more than that, it carries real emotional weight for the families I work with. That combination of artistic craft and genuine meaning is what drives me. This isn’t just a business for me. It’s a work of passion.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t say it’s been without its learning curves! When I was starting out, I knew I had the technical skills, but lifecasting is its own discipline. I built my experience the way I think is best, by actually doing it. I offered my services for free to members of my community so I could practice, refine my technique, and really learn the process hands-on. What I didn’t expect was how much I would fall in love with it, not just the craft itself, but the connection with families. That season of learning ended up shaping everything about how I approach my work today.
The other thing I’d say keeps me humble is that no two appointments are ever the same. The science behind lifecasting is genuinely delicate — water temperature, alginate volumes, mixing technique — it all has to come together just right. And you’re working with real people, whether that’s a wiggly toddler or a multigenerational family, so you have to be adaptable and precise at the same time. Something could always go wrong, and that reality keeps me focused and accurate every single time.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Ambrosia Lifecasting is exactly what the name suggests, we capture life. I create highly detailed, three-dimensional sculptures of hands, feet, and more, preserving a moment in time in a way that no photograph ever could. Every piece is museum quality and entirely one of a kind.
What I’m most proud of is that I’m the only lifecasting artist serving the greater Cincinnati area and beyond. I’ve had clients drive over two hours just to come to my studio, which means the world to me. It tells me that what I’m offering fills a real need.
What sets me apart is the combination of formal sculpture education and over 15 years of mold-making experience. This isn’t a hobby, it’s a highly technical craft, and I bring professional-level precision to every appointment. But the skill is only part of it. The other part is the experience I create for families when they’re here, and the moment when they come back to pick up their finished piece. When a family sees it for the first time and tears up, I know with complete certainty that this is exactly what I’m meant to be doing.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is that family and human connection is the most important thing in our lives. Our bonds with each other are so valuable, so unique, so beautiful. And somehow, capturing something as simple as a hand in a sculpture unlocks all of that.
Hands tell a story. A baby’s hand is impossibly small, soft, fleeting — and lifecasting freezes that in a way nothing else can. An elderly hand carries an entire life in every wrinkle and vein. There is so much beauty and meaning in both, and everywhere in between. I get to work across that whole spectrum — new babies, grandparents, parents and children, couples, every single piece reminds me why human connection matters.
I think that’s why people cry when they see their finished piece. It’s not just art. It’s proof that this moment existed, that these people loved each other, that this little hand was once this small. That’s what I get to do every day, and it has made me a better artist and a more grateful person.

Pricing:

• Pricing starts at $125 and goes up depending on the age and number of participants as well as the presentation of the final piece.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ambrosialifecasting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ambrosialifecasting/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17gNEJt5Qu/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCTz93-vjztCxaT033xuW6Ag?ra=m