Art Doll Wood Carving

Redwood carved doll art by Kor January

One of my most recent and prized doll acquisitions is a carved redwood art doll by master carver Kor January. This mixed media piece can be displayed as a seated "doll" or as an elaborate wall hanging. I display it as a wall hanging as illustrated next.

It is an elaborate piece of doll art.

See more pictures and the description of this 39-inch art doll in a recent Virtual Black Doll Museum installation here.

 

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

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Kizzy, Another Doll Puzzle

Black Doll Collecting: Meet Kizzy, She is Sitting Under A Tree With Her Toys And Books, By Kor January

Click the subtitle above Kizzy's photo or here, then click the green solve button to solve.  Have fun!


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Two More Jigidi Doll Puzzles to Solve

Libby, An Adorable Hand Carved Poplar Wood Doll By Kor January From Black Doll Collecting Blog

I found this puzzle the Jigidi folks created and thought I'd share it for those who enjoyed solving the last photo puzzle they created from one of my doll photos.  Clicking the subtitle above the image should link you to their site. If not, please go here and click the Solve button.

Incidentally, another full-body photo of Libby was converted into a puzzle, which can be viewed and solved here.

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Meet Kizzy by Kor January

As mentioned in this week's previous post, Kizzy is my 2015 WLBD Anew Club doll by Kor January. It did not take long for me to determine that I wanted an African name for this little one since her artist is from Liberia, a country in West Africa. The name Kizzy was my first and final choice.

The name, Kizzy, became popular in the United States after the TV miniseries based on the book, Roots, aired in 1977 in which the author, the late Alex Haley, traces his roots back to his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte. While enslaved, Kunta and his wife Bell gave birth to one child that he named Kizzy.

In searching for the meaning of Kizzy, I found the following text: Kunta Kinte was born in Gambia and belonged to the Mandinka/Mandinke tribe. The Mandinka language, sometimes referred to as Mandingo, is a Mandé language spoken by millions of Mandinka people in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Chad; it is the main language of The Gambia… In keeping with family tradition, Kunta Kinte gave his daughter an African "Christian" name, Kizzy (Keisa in Mandinka/ Mandingo), which in Kunta's native tongue means to "stay put."

Kizzy's hand-carved wooden stoop by Kor January

Staying put on her stoop is what Kizzy enjoys doing. She is a thinker who loves to read. She also loves her dog, Sam, and has aspirations of becoming a veterinarian when she grows up.

Kizzy is currently reading the book she holds, Ruby and the Booker Boys by Derrick Barnes. It is about a sweet and sassy yet tough girl named Ruby who is the exact same age as Kizzy, 8. (According to the book, Ruby plans to “become the most famous woman animal doctor on the planet.”) Kizzy also holds a copy of her favorite children’s magazine, Highlights.

I made ribbons for Kizzy’s two ponytails using green braiding cord (the type used to make bracelets).

She wears a wooden beaded bracelet fashioned from an earring. Kizzy took several additional photos and wanted to share them all with you. She hopes you enjoy them.

Kizzy loves the outdoors.  Her trusty dog, Sam, does too and finds comfort in her lap.

Looking in deep thought, Kizzy sits underneath a shade tree, yet still enjoys the rays of the sun.

Her legs bend and twist at the knees and lock in place to hold various poses.

With her toes perpetually pointed downward, when seated as shown here, Kizzy looks very prim and proper.

I love my little girl.

dbg

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The Making of Club Doll Sisters by Kor January

In April 2015 my online doll group commissioned doll artist, Kor January, to make our 2015 group doll. Normally, our dolls are identical, but because Kor is a master wood carver who hand carves all his pieces, our dolls are one-of-a-kind with similar faces, dressed identically by the artist.

We were given several head style choices from which to choose, as shown in the first image.  As a group we decided on the shape we wanted for the dolls' face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth as well as the wood color for the complexion, hair and shoe style.  A survey was created based on the provided choices with the final results of the survey shown next:




Kor began working on our dolls shortly after the above-described features were selected.  During the doll-making process, he kept us updated by sharing photos of the completed steps.  Some of his photos are shown below.

From mahogany wood, he carved the faces and heads.

The heads and cute faces

Face and bodies painted and attached to poplar wood necks, hair of head carved and painted; arms and thighs added

Lower hinged legs added, socks and shoes carved and painted

Another photo of the previous completed process

Side ponytails of three twisted braids added and dresses made but not sewn on yet

The approximately 8-inch girls with hinged arms, hips, and knees are seated on chairs and wooden stoops. After seeing this photo, a couple of group members wanted to know the cost of the chairs and stoops.

With the costs for the chairs and stoops shared, a few of us had Kor make hand-carved stoops, which were offered in two sizes, shown here.

 One of the member's dolls is shown seated on one of the taller carved stoops.

Before the end of December 2015, all members who purchased a club doll had received their dolls and stoops.  In honor of Kor, many members named their dolls using a portion of his name, such as Kora and Korynne.

I named my doll, Kizzy, first shown here modeling a dress my friend made for her for Christmas. Kizzy will formally introduce herself in my next post.


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Doll by Kor January Spoken Into Existence

Doll by Kor January, photograph courtesy of Kor January

It was either at the 2004 or 2005 International Philadelphia Black Doll Show when I first saw up close and personal hand-carved dolls by doll artist, Kor January.  Before that time, I had only seen photographs of his dolls.  At the doll show, even though I admired and coveted ownership of one, I passed on purchasing due to cost.  Throughout the years, I regretted that decision.

Recently, a member of my Facebook group shared a photograph of one of her doll groupings.  One of the dolls in the group was by Kor January, which reminded me that my collection would not be complete without one of his hand-carved, one of a kind dolls.  As a comment to the posted photo, I wrote:  A Kor January doll is at the top of my wish list. I wish I knew how to contact him.

Several other group members mentioned their desire to own a Kor January doll as well.  Another collector located the artist's telephone number and contacted him.  During their conversation, January shared several photographs of available dolls.  The shared photos and his telephone number were posted to the group.  Of the dolls shown, two tugged at my heart strings, one more than the other.

After a lengthy conversation with the artist, I purchased the doll that is partially shown above.  This 14-inch doll that is constructed of poplar wood for body, lower arms/hands, and lower legs/feet with oak used for upper arms and legs, can be seen in full in the next photos that Kor shared with me after our several-minute conversation concluded.

This delightful little one has hand-carved features and carved strands of hair on her head that are painted black.  Four separate yarn twists create her ponytail strands.

I love her little pouty mouth and downward arched feet!

So pensive.

Her joints are steel with articulation at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.

Look at her with her "hand on her imagination." (As a young girl, did your mother or other female elder ever tell you to "Get your hands off your imagination" when you placed them your hips?)

Be careful, don't fall.  You've got some traveling to do!

My adorable OOAK hand-carved wood doll by Kor January prior to traveling to Texas in photographs courtesy of the artist.

In the photographs, Kor illustrates the doll's multiple poses, which he said is not a feature he adds to all dolls.   He felt the need to apologize for getting carried away with photographing my little girl and sending as many of the photographs to me.  I reassured him that an apology was not necessary.  The photos just made me more eager for her to arrive.

Because he was not pleased with the pants she was wearing originally, before sending my doll, Kor made another pair of pants using the same vintage striped mattress ticking fabric she wore originally with her original off-white ivory blouse. 


After she arrived, I bonded with her immediately and took a few additional photographs, but as I suspected, mine are not as great as Kor's.  

(Over enhanced color)

Home at last...

Kor said he will leave the naming up to me.  I haven't decided firmly on what her name will be, but until I do, I think I will call her Libbie.  

*****

A native of Monrovia, Liberia, who now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kor January's artist profile is included in Black Dolls Proud, Bold & Beautiful by Nayda Rondon (Reverie Publishing Company, 2004).  About his dolls, ninety percent of which are children, January shared with Rondon:

...With my art I escape into fantasy to create glimpses of dreams, visions of what I'd like life to be, or something that captures a moment or feeling in time that I want to re-create.  I want my work to take you to a better place.

In an online search for images of his dolls, I only found blog-post coverage of a 2011 Columbus, Ohio doll show here.   Kor also has an Etsy shop that opened in 2012, but it is currently empty.  At the time of this writing, he plans to exhibit his dolls at the 2014 Detroit Doll Show on November 1, 2014.

***** 

I believe there is power in the tongue (in the words we speak) and that we can speak things into existence, both positive and negative.  For this reason, I also believe, it is very important to be mindful of the things we say as well as the thoughts we think.  
 

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