2001 Dolls of Color Calendar and Sharon E. Tucker Original Doll

In 2003, I became aware of Sharon Tucker's Dolls of Color 2001 "New Beginnings" calendar  (shown above) which features a pair of her Raggedy Butt kids on the front cover.  It was in 2003 that Janice Larsen-Tyre became a member of my former Yahoo doll discussion group.  In her introduction post, Janice shared that her doll, Jimmy, is the January doll featured in this calendar.  Even though the calendar had been published for the year 2001, I wanted to include it with my black-doll memorabilia.  Janice made that happen for me.

Back cover of 2001 Dolls of Color "New Beginnings" calendar

The back cover of the calendar contains images of the variety of soft-sculptured and mixed media art dolls featured for the 12 months of 2001.  With the exception of the January doll and artist, the other images do not include the artists' names.  My calendar is still shrink wrapped; therefore I am unable to identify the artists of all dolls or know whether each artist provided a quote as Larsen-Tyre did.  Base on individual styles, however, I am able to recognize some of the featured artists.

January - As indicated, Janice Larsen-Tyre's doll, Jimmy is the January doll with a quote from the artist which reads:  Like a sunrise on the ocean, one of God's many gifts to us, I thank him for the inspiration & Talent to create Jimmy. The other artists that I recognize are as follows:

February - Anne Myatt
March - Paula Whaley (sister of the late-James Baldwin)
April - Unknown artist
May - Patricia Coleman-Cobb
June - Contains four doll images; one is by Rose Chapman.  The next doll appears to be one of Sharon Tucker's dolls.  Two dolls are in a single image by an unknown artist and one additional doll by an unknown artist follows.
July and August - Unknown artists
September - Doris McGillan
October Tonia Mitchell-Floyd (possibly)
November - Unknown artist
December - Kor January

For years I had wanted to own one of Sharon Tucker's dolls but, until recently, never took the steps to make that happen.  She and I have been Facebook friends for quite some time, but it was just recently that I saw images of her newly created art dolls in posts by her on her timeline as well as in two Facebook groups where we share membership.  After viewing the photos of several, I chose the one that pulled at my heartstrings the most.  I have named her Sandy.

Original art doll by Sharon Tucker

Sandy is 18-inches tall, hand painted with sculpted features.  She has black yarn hair styled in three braids hidden underneath her funky hat which matches her Bohemian chic-style clothing.  She has painted fingernails and toenails and wears platform sandals.  This one-of-a-kind doll was completely handmade by the artist.

After Sandy arrived, I was as pleased with her as I had been based on her online images.  I took several photos of my own which are shared below.

This close-up image shows Sandy's wooden necklace of beads and spool.  She has permanently attached gold tone earrings and a beauty mark below the corner of her mouth.

The trim around the soles of her sandals matches the trim at the hem of her pants.

Yarn was used to create her three fat plaits which are held together at the ends with fabric that matches the top of her hat.  The same fabric was used for the bands and soles of her sandals.  Sandy's original jacket matched the yellow fleece of her top and pants, but after a few messages back and forth between artist and collector, Sharon changed the coat to the tan and brown jacket. That change met with my approval and, in my opinion, bumped up her Bohemian look a notch or two.

Sandy's asymmetrical top can be seen better with the coat removed.

The flip side of her hand-signed tag contains the artist's contact information including email which is sharontucker3@hotmail.com.  Tucker can also be reach through her Etsy shop.

Contact her if you are interested in adding a one-of-a-kind original art doll to your doll family.  Better yet, she is hosting a Doll Making Party on August 22, 2015 where attendees can construct their own doll using materials provided in the prepaid party package.  If you reside in the Philadelphia, PA area, this might interest you.  For more information contact Sharon for specifics.


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