Aniqua Wilkerson, Fiber Doll Artist and Owner of My Kinda Thing (Pt.1)

Another wonderful In The Doll World show with my guest Aniqua Wilkerson, Fiber Doll Artist and Owner of My Kinda Thing.   (Pt.1)     www.inthedollworld.com 

What a great and purposeful doll journey Anqiua's shares with us, the educator is definitely in the house. 

As the third child of seven children, creativity was always encouraged in her house growing up and Aniqua always had dolls to play with, from the time she can remember, but did not have her first black doll until she was eight years old.

In the conversation she shares that when she did get the black doll, she literally could not put it down, carrying it everywhere, protecting her doll but on some level, she believe she was protecting and caring for herself as well. 

She is a self-taught crochet artist. She became interested in crochet at around 19 years old, when her cousin found some old fiber arts books and has spent most of her adult career as a teacher, using art to be a more effective educator.   

She loved teaching but was a little disheartened with the education system and wanted to so something else with art and so as she listened to her nieces and their friends talk about how they felt about themselves, and not always in a positive light, she wanted to embark on something that would help them to see how truly beautiful they were. 

We also get to talk about another proud moment in her life and how this excellent opportunity of working with Lion Brand and introducing Skien Tones came about. 

Aniqua uses crochet as a tool to teach and promote self-esteem in girls, particularly girls of color and help to impart a sense of pride in the lives of young girls and women through art and dolls.

Don’t forget to check in next week for Part 2 of this great conversation and Aniqua’s amazing doll journey.

To find more of Aniqua’s creations, please visit http://www.mykindathing.com/ or visit her on Instagram @my_kinda_thing