Creating Communitas: African American Doll Bloggers Animate Black Dolls as Sites of Signification

A still capture from Rod and Danielle's Wedding animated by the late Vanessa Morrison of Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures is featured in the YouTube video below.

Read

If you missed Paulette Richards' Zoom presentation on Monday, February 1, 2021, the YouTube recording can be viewed at your leisure.

YouTube Description: "This study by Paulette Richards explores the work of three African American [artists] who maintained doll blogs and animated their dolls in short video narratives between 2010 and 2015: Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures, Hey It's Muff, and Roxanne's Dolls. 

I attended the live presentation and found Paulette's comparison of doll animation and puppetry fascinating. I hope you will, too. 

 

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. To contact me, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New* Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Dr. Paulette Richards Presenting at Emory

Former Limbe Dolls blogger, Paulette Richards, has been invited to present in the James Weldon Johnson Institute's Race and Difference series at Emory University on Monday, February 1, 2021.  If you find doll animation fascinating, and if you followed the blogs Fashion Dolls at Van's Dolls Treasures, Roxanne's Dolls, and Hey It's Muff, make plans to attend this Zoom presentation. Details and how to register to join in by Zoom are copied below:

Creating Communitas:  African American Doll Bloggers Animate Black Dolls as Sites of Signification

Presented by Dr. Paulette Richards, puppet artist and independent researcher 

"Kevin's Confession Part 2" by Hey It's Muff

February 1, 2021, 12 – 1pm (EST)

James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference

Race and Difference Colloquium Series

Emory University

This study explores the work of three African American artists who maintained doll blogs and animated their dolls in short video narratives between 2010 and 2015. Although puppetry usually excludes dolls on the grounds that dolls are ostensibly for static display or private play while puppets are animated in performances before an audience, these videos are significant as instances of African American object performance.  By focusing on adult women of color who not only collect, but also play with dolls, this analysis extends girlhood studies, which, as a sub-discipline of gender studies has approached doll play from historical, anthropological, and psychological perspectives (Bernstein 2011, Chin 1999, Forman-Brunell 2012).  By considering You Tube as a platform where tens if not hundreds of thousands of girls and women produce, disseminate, and view visual narratives using dolls to represent myriad fictional worlds, this presentation also addresses a large body of work that film studies scholars have essentially ignored.  Finally reviewing this body of work offers a model of how puppeteers can connect with audiences at a time when the future of live theater is uncertain.

Free and open to the public.  To Register:

https://emory.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dTWNMy38TmOnN6Lfxzlmhg

Contact:  Rhonda Patrick

Contact email:  rhonda.patrick@emory.edu

This information is also available at the Emory University website.

__________

Richards Bio

Paulette Richards is a puppet artist and independent researcher.  She holds a Ph.D. in French Civilization from the University of Virginia and has taught at Georgetown University, Tulane University, and Georgia Tech.  She survived a ten month stint in Senegal as a 2013/ 2014 Fulbright Scholar without contracting any tropical diseases, but sometime during her service as an artist in residence at the Institut français de Saint Louis, the puppet bug bit her hard.  After returning to Atlanta she became a docent in the Worlds of Puppetry Museum at the Center for Puppetry Arts.  When fellow members of Decatur Makers introduced her to Arduino microprocessors and stepper motors, she immediately thought of the animatronic dogs and Doozers in the Henson gallery at the museum and began designing her own rudimentary robots.  Richards has taught animatronic puppetry workshops at the Friends School of Atlanta, Decatur Makers, the Dekalb County Public Library, the Center for Puppetry Arts, and the Puppeteers of America 2017 National Festival.  She co-curated the Living Objects:  African American Puppetry exhibit that ran at the University of Connecticut’s Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry from October 2O18 to April 2O19 with Dr. John Bell and also co-edited the anthology of essays from the Living Objects Symposium.  She is currently curating an exhibit of African American puppetry scheduled to open at the Center for Puppetry Arts in November 2O21 and her book, Object Performance in the Black Atlantic is forthcoming from Routledge in 2O22.

dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. To contact me, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Vanessa Morrison of Van's Doll Treasures

Our dear fellow blogger, Vanessa Morrison, of  Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures has lost her several-year battle with cancer.

Vanessa passed away on October 11, 2017.  She was a soldier until the end and continued to battle this deadly disease until her body could no longer fight.

I spoke to her about a month ago and, although she was basically bedridden, her plans were to begin physical therapy to strengthen her muscles so she could regain her ability to walk.

I thank God that Vanessa entered my life initially in 2005 when she was a porcelain doll maker, allowing me to share her artist profile in Black Doll-e-zine.  We lost contact afterward, but five years later, Vanessa invited me to visit and follow her blog.  So impressed with her doll stories, videos, and overall talent, in 2011, we began working on an article about her that was published in the 2012 Autumn Americana issue of Fashion Doll Quarterly.  I thank God even more that our friend, who shared our passion for dolls so creatively is no longer suffering.  She is now truly free.

Rest and create peacefully in paradise, dear Vanessa.  I will always remember you.

~~~~~~~~~~

In addition to her informative and entertaining blog posts, Vanessa's Youtube channel remains a testament to her knack for telling a good doll story, her creativity, attention to detail, and overall dedication to one of her many talents.


dbg
Thank you for reading. Was this post helpful?
Follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black
View the Doll Events page for updates. Check out my eBay listings here.

I Knew I Knew Vanessa!

After meeting her through her blog for what I thought was the first time in 2010, I became fascinated by the clever manner Vanessa Morrison weaves fashion dolls into stories using realistic dioramas, most of which include furniture and accessories she makes.  After several months as an avid reader of her blog, I was so enthralled that I wanted to share her with the collecting community through a published article.  We accomplished that goal in the Autumn 2012 Americana issue of Fashion Doll Quarterly (FDQ).

  Cedric is a porcelain doll made by Vanessa Morrison.  After seeing this photo again in 2011, I knew I had seen Cedric years before.

The hint that I had met her previously came from photos Vanessa shared in 2011 for the FDQ article of porcelain dolls she made in the past.  I had seen some of the dolls before, but I couldn't quite recall where. 

I was able to put 2 and 2 together this morning after archiving a 2005 issue of The Black Doll-E-Zine onto its Facebook archive page.  As co-editor and eventually sole editor of the first e-zine devoted to collecting Black dolls, I solicited profiles from doll collectors as well as doll artists for each BDE issue.  In Vol. 4, Issue 1 of 2005, Vanessa (now of Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures) shared her artist profile.

While we connected only briefly in 2005 for that issue of BDE, and it took five years for us to reconnect in 2010, I believe our connection will be long-lasting.

Vanessa... girl... I knew I knew you! 

Visit and Like:  The Black Doll-E-Zine Archives on Facebook


dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen

No, Danielle Has Not Left Morristown for Texas

After "meeting" Danielle Harper through Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures in November 2010, I have followed Vanessa's well-written stories and videos about Danielle's courtship, marriage, honeymoon, and her most recent return from honeymoon.  Through these photo and video stories, I was able to really "get to know" Danielle as a charming woman, single mother, and now wife.  I liked her and wanted to add my own Danielle to my collection.  I kept forgetting to ask Vanessa to inform me of Danielle's manufactured name.

Her origin was unveiled after I read Ebony Nicole's April 29, 2012, "for sale" post for Fashion Fever Kayla.  From there I immediately went to eBay and quickly found my own Kayla never removed from box, (whose name will remain Kayla).  Kayla arrived in May of this year.

I've been so busy with life, work, and real-world stuff that I had not taken the time to redress Kayla or do anything with her long, but rather uneven hair until this past weekend.  After finding the perfect fashion for her, I decided to give Kayla a makeover, which has not been completed, but I wanted to share the first steps of the makeover now.

Below are two pictures of Kayla taken after she arrived in May.

Did anyone really ever wear bell-bottom camouflage pants with orange jersey inserts?

Kayla's hair has now been pulled up into a ponytail, held by a rubber band.  I applied olive oil Eco Style Gel to the loose ends and curled small sections with tiny rod rollers.  I had to use end papers in order to get the uneven ends of her hair to curl evenly.

Kayla is waiting for her hair to dry.  She and I are eager to know how her curls will look.

Next, I dressed Kayla in a lovely matching black lace bra and panties designed by the tremendously creative Limbe Dolls.  Kayla and I love it!

Kayla, still waiting for her hair to dry, is dressed in black lace lingerie ensemble courtesy of Limbe Dolls.

As soon as Kayla's hair dries and is styled, an additional post will be published to share more details about her makeover including why I wrapped plastic around her feet (as shown in the image immediately above).

Until then...

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen

Van's Doll Treasures Featured in FDQ

Roderick, his ex-wife Melanie, and their 12-year-old daughter, Nicole, look comfy cozy on a sofa and chair made by Vanessa of Fashion Dolls at Van's Dolls Treasures.  -- Photograph* courtesy of  Vanessa Morrison

After "meeting" Vanessa of Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures, it did not take long for me to become thoroughly impressed by her creative dioramas using fashion dolls, handmade furniture, and often handmade accessories.  So impressed, I wanted to help share her creative genius with the doll-world at large. Writing an article for a major doll publication would be my way of doing this.  I proposed the idea to Vanessa, who readily accepted.  The culmination of our several weeks' work has resulted in the article, "Van's Treasures," which appears in the Autumn 2012 Americana issue of Fashion Doll Quarterly (FDQ).  This issue began shipping July 5, 2012, and I wait with bated breath to receive my hard copy!

FDQ is available by subscription, as a single copy for $10 + postage from authorized sellers, or as a digital download for $7.99 at their web site.

Stella's Treasures and Angelic Dreamz sell single copies of FDQ, but at the time of this writing, their sites have not been updated with a buy link for the Autumn 2012 issue.  As the magazines just shipped, these sites should be updated with buy links soon.  Barnes and Noble book stores should also have their copies soon.

Thank you, again, Vanessa!

I also extend a heartfelt thanks to Pat Henry, editor of FDQ for accepting the article without hesitation!

*Roderick (Rod) and estranged wife, Melanie, shown in the associated image, were having an uncomfortable discussion with daughter, Nicole.  Rod and new wife, Danielle, had just begun dating at the time the photograph was taken and used in Vanessa's post of May 5, 2011.  This photograph illustrates one of Vanessa's many fashion doll families used in her prolific doll stories.

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen

Anticipating Rod and Danielle's Wedding

I have been enjoying the blog posts and videos by Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures, which share the events (thus far) of Rod and Danielle's actual (doll) wedding day in Morristown, USA.  Links to most of these are below:

The Morning of the Wedding
Danielle and Leslie at the Hair Salon
Headed to the Church
Getting Dressed (it's getting closer)
The Husbands Have Arrived
Guests Arriving to the Church

Equally as enjoyable have been the following posts by bloggers whose dolls will be in attendance at the wedding as additional guests. 

Pink Obsession Attendees
Brooklyn Stars Forever Attendees
Doll Affinity Attendees
Chynadoll Creation Attendees

I can tell this is going to be a fabulous wedding, reception, and I'm sure honeymoon! 

Congratulations Rod and Danielle!

~~~~~~~~~~

Become a follower of  Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures and keep up with additional Morristown wedding day and post-wedding day events. 

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog