Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Joy in the Palm of My Hand


Joy is a one-of-a-kind art doll by Sharon E. Tucker.

After seeing Joy's adorable face as the doll advertising a Dollmaking Party event posted on Facebook by the artist who made her, I thought "how precious!"  The event is a cloth dollmaking workshop, which takes place on May 6, 2017, in Philadelphia.  I knew it would be impossible for me to attend, but that did not prevent my adoration of Joy.

Later that day or within the same week, the artist, Sharon E. Tucker, posted Joy for sale along with several other 8-inch-in-the-seated-position Tub-It Dolls, some of which were already marked sold.  I considered inquiring about Joy, but the price was not indicated, so I did not bother to ask.  An update to that post a day or so later revealed the price after someone else inquired.  The price was reasonable, so I named and claimed Joy as mine.


She arrived quickly.  It was at that time I discovered her head is permanently positioned slightly to her right, which gives her an inquisitive demeanor.  Something has happened or she has heard something she is not quite sure about.  She wants to know more.

Joy has a light brown upholstery-type fabric face, onto which most of  her features are hand drawn.  Two tiny black beads serve as eyes. A cowrie shell headband frames her forehead, and she has a beauty mark on her lower left cheek. 
The artist added her signature and included the year made on the back of Joy's right arm.



Her arms, as shown here and immediately above, are made of the same fabric as her face. Her legs and feet are sewn of pink fabric. A ribbon with cowrie shell is tied around her left ankle.  Her sewn-on clothing consists of two pieces of multicolored floral material, the bottom portion of which is pellet weighted.





Joy's hair is made from tan, white, and brown yarn.  A section of the top is pulled up into a top-knot with a PVC-coated wire clip.  Take a closer look a the back of her hair below:

Too cute!
Joy wears a necklace of three wooden blocks that spell out J-O-Y in any direction the blocks are turned.

She is made to sit, but...

...with the assistance of a doll stand, Joy can stand, too!  In the standing position, she is 14 inches tall.



The artist drew this sketch on the back of a handwritten thank you note that accompanied Joy.
This is my second doll by Sharon E. Tucker.  My first one, that I named Sandy in honor of Sandra Bland, was purchased in 2015 and can be seen here.



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6 comments:

  1. She's a cutie.:D
    Do all Sharon E. Tucker dolls have a beauty mark. Sandy had one just like Joy's.

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    1. You are very observant, Maricha. Until you asked, I had not noticed that both my Tucker dolls have the same beauty mark. I just looked at images of the other Tub-It dolls. It appears they all have the same beauty mark in or about the same area on their faces. Some photos were taken at angles that hid that area of the face, but I am thinking they all have one because (I just looked at her picture) the artist has one there!

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    2. I am observant most of the time but also super envious of those with beauty marks so...;-)

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    3. I have a very, very, faint one above my lip. As a teen, I used to darken it with a black eyebrow pencil. :-) I haven't done that in years, however.

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    4. You don't know how lucky you are:D
      Isn't that a prophetic placement considering what you do: it means witty and beautiful speech. :D

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    5. I'm not sure what it means, Maricha (but I'll take it as luck or better yet a blessing.) All I know is the peach fuzz that's trying to grow on top of it is not a blessing, more like a curse. Age -- gotta love it.

      :-)

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