As many of you know, the Asian arts have always spoken to my soul...not so sure why but I know that I love them.
When I first started studying them over 15 years ago, I started with the Japanese design concepts... clean, delicate, not fussy...to the point.
I find that Japanese and Scandinavian (which is in my Danish bloodline) relate in design to one another, there is such a relatable crossover. So maybe, that is the connect???
Japanese
Scandanavian
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox.
Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Kitsune are able to take on human form to mate to continue their line. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom that enable them to grow up to 9 tails showing their great wisdom.
Doll Photography: Mark Mortensen
Hand-made wood stools: Gary Leitch
Full View
This kimono was created as a traditional kimono is made with slight adjustment to the hip area since she is sitting.
Here is a traditional pattern...I curved out the hip area in my pattern. My doll is younger so her sleeves are longer and the obi is fancier!
This was some of the lightest silk that I have worked with, it brought beauty into my studio just sitting on my worktable!
Kimono-Silk woven print, lining of Japanese print cotton.
Details
I love the details within dollmaking from the careful selection of fabrics to the last hand stitch using a great needle and fine thread.
Details 細部 Saibu
large and small matters, particulars, details, greatness and smallness, particular
large and small matters, particulars, details, greatness and smallness, particular
Name
Most times I do not name my dolls except for what they symbolize as in Kitsune. I was asked to name this piece. I thought about her coloring, her beautiful fabric, and what I would like for her to radiate...
Radiance
輝き
Kagayaki
light as emitted by something."the radiance of the sunset " light, brightness, brilliance, luminosity, beams, rays, illumination, blaze, glow, gleam, luster, luminescence, incandescence
great happiness, apparent in someone's expression or bearing. joy, elation, jubilance, ecstasy, rapture, euphoria, happiness, delight, pleasure
"her face beamed with radiance"
Hat
Fox and Rabbit, lining dupoino silk, hand tipped ears.
Tail- Fox and Rabbit.
With hat and without hat
Details
Obi- Stiffened vintage kimono lined with Japanese cotton
Hands
Underskirt of silk with French knots.
Lining
Shoes- Black silk lined with Japanese cotton
A kitsune is a shapeshifter, and usually when it reaches the age of 100 years, it learn the ability to take on a human form. Thus, they have to be a fox for a hundred years before it can shapeshift from a fox to a human and back again. Kitsune usually take the form of young Japanese girls and beautiful women.
Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of spiritual entity, and the word kitsune is often translated as fox spirit.
However, this does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes gain supernatural abilities.
There are thirteen different kinds of Kitsune, each with a corresponding element, listed as follows: Heaven (or Celestial or Prime), Void (or Dark), Wind, Spirit, Fire, Earth, River, Ocean, Mountain, Forest, Thunder, Time and Sound. One of the most important things to a Kitsune is freedom. They do not fare well to being locked away, and do not like to be forced to do something they don't want to...
