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| Doll box for 2018 WLBDA Club Doll, Leontyne Grace by Frantz Brent-Harris |
In March 2017, my online doll group, We Love Black Dolls Anew, commissioned Jamaican-born Canadian doll artist, Frantz Brent-Harris of Sona dolls, to create our 2018 club doll. The inspiration for asking Brent-Harris to create our doll was his 12-inch, full-figured resin doll, Monica. Monica was initially created to include in one of his exhibitions, but because of intense interest in the doll, a limited edition was created. I fell in love with Monica after seeing Facebook photos the artist shared and after reading Roxanne's blog post about her doll (the link to that post is provided at the end of this post).
To set our limited edition dolls apart from Monica, WLBDA members selected a medium brown complexion for our doll and requested a different head sculpt. I asked that the hands be slightly more relaxed. We also wanted a signed certificate of authenticity, a doll stand, and box. Frantz complied with our wishes. Everything else with regard to the doll's hairstyle, clothing, shoes, etc. was left to the artist's creative interpretation and remained a mystery for everyone except me* until the dolls were shipped and received by members.
*I had seen a few photos (as illustrated above) of the doll-in-progress and the final finished doll before they were shipped.
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| This is one of the photos the artist shared prior to shipping our dolls to us. |
My reaction after seeing photos of the dolls prior to shipping is captured in a Facebook Messenger message to the artist:
By the end of the first week in April, everyone had received their doll and their reactions can be summed up in two words: She's exquisite!
Prior to receiving my doll, I also sent the following message to Frantz:
(I don't have a phrase for a doll artist who has outdone himself, but what we say to people who have cooked a very good dish, "You put your foot in it." (This must translate to a person putting their whole heart and soul into something they've done). You did that!
And he did! So now please allow me to present some of the multiple photographs taken of my gorgeous, 12-inch, full-figured, resin beauty, Leontyne Grace (named by the artist after opera singer Leontyne Price and singer/super-model/actress Grace Jones):
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| Leontyne Grace wears a red and black houndstooth dress, belted at the waist with a wide black patent-leather belt, gold and black beaded necklace, and red stiletto pumps. |
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| She definitely has curves, which she proudly shows off in the above and next photo. |
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| Leontyne Grace is articulated at the usual five points. Her head, arms, and legs and strung. |
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| Leontyne Grace has a beautiful face that expresses an air of confidence. She wears a removable custom-made wig made from super soft, curly fibers. This lovely doll has beautifully-painted arched eyebrows and brown eyes that seem to see through you and beckon recognition. Her dark lip color complements her sepia complexion. |
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| Without her wig, Leontyne Grace is as lovely as she is wearing it, as illustrated in this photo and the next photos that were taken using different lighting. |
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| Leontyne Grace is breathtakingly gorgeous! |
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| With each doll is included a doll stand (not shown), a numbered, signed certificate of authenticity, shown here and a doll box, shown next. While the certificate indicates there are 20 dolls, only 15 were made including the artist's proof. |
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| The custom-designed, woodgrain-paper-covered doll box is personalized with the doll's name and the club's name. |
I love Leontyne Grace. I am very grateful that Frantz was able to accommodate our request to make our 2018 WLBDA Club Doll.
Read Roxanne's review of Martini Beach Monica here. She is one of the 15 who owns Leontyne Grace and plans to write a blog review of her doll as well.
To contact Frantz Brent-Harris about his doll art, his email address is f_brentharris@yahoo.com.
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