Pulling Strings

I have always been interested in puppets of all kinds. The way one can make these in-animate objects appear to come to life with hidden hands is something I still find delightful (Although I know many folks who find it creepy!) My toy-making adventures as a child included hand puppets with felt bodies and heads made from styrofoam balls covered in fabric or paper mache, and full-bodied animal puppets stitched from my own patterns made with plush fur, in addition to the childhood puppetry standards-paper bag puppets and sock puppets! My brother had a fantastic clown marionette when we were young and I wanted one of my own, but never thought of making one. In recent years though, I started a couple of times to create a marionette bear, but became side tracked with other projects (as I often do).

Then, last month, when I came an online marionette class taught by one of my favorite doll sculptors, Diane Keeler, I had to do it. It was a birthday present to myself. The class was fantastic, and I finally finished a marionette! It's a young Mad Hatter. If you'd like take a class from Diane yourself, you can find some here along with classes from other talented artists! www.aforartistic.com

Here are some in-progress photos:

The parts are sculpted from polymer clay

Diane Keeler demonstrated her step by step
method for sculpting perfet ears!

My experience in doing "face-ups" on my BJD collection helped with the
painting!

The wig is made from a scrap of mohair plush in
 the "use what you have" spirit!

I am pleased with his chubby hands.

This is a "use what you have" project. I bought nothing new.

Here is my finished marionette! 

The Teddy Bear Extravaganza has begun!

The Teddy Bear Extravaganza at www.teddiesworldwide.com has begun! Visit the show to see new work from 75 talented bear artists from all around the globe.

My studio is buried in bits and parts from all the projects I have had going --bears for this show, bears for the show in Philadelphia-- an online marionette class (I'll share about that here soon), and even a couple of dolls! My mind feels just as cluttered, but it's all fun stuff and now that the online show has started, I'm going to take a moment to clean up the studio and I'm going to take a walk in the nice sunshine to  clear my mind!
I made one of me new smaller bears with big bear details--

Arlo

Arlo

I also enjoyed working with a new little classic style design I made for this show. "Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!"

Happy

Happy

Joy

Joy

Sunny

Sunny

The Teddy Bear Extravaganza preview has begun!

Introducing Happy! This traditional style teddy is my preview bear for the Teddies Wordlwide online show! He's named for the song by Pharrell Williams that was in my head all day the day I finished him, and decked out for a birthday celebration--mine!  visit www.teddiesworldwide.com to see the preview and vote for your favorite bears! Then, be sure to come back March 21-23 to see the show!

Going to Hugglets!

It has long been a wish of my to attend one of the premier shows in th UK, Hugglets. I still hope that some day I may go in person, but thanks to the shop  Silly Bears of Scotland, my bears will go this year! The show is this Sunday, February 23 at Kensington Town Hall in London.. The shop has given artists a delicious theme to create their bears around called "Out of the Chocolate Box"! I had a wonderful time choosing colors accessories and names for my part of the collection. Here they are. If you are lucky enough to attend Hugglets in person stop by  the Silly Bears stand for a cuddle.

Bon Bon

Bon Bon

Fudge

Fudge

Tiramisu

Tiramisu

Truffle

Truffle

Willy

Willy

About Time!

"We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams." Jeremy Irons from the movie The Time Machine

Emmett, the Steampunk Time Traveler

The title of this post "About Time" has a double meaning. The first is the common exasperated expression-- "IT"S ABOUT TIME!" as in, "It's about time I finished my 20th Anniversary Bear, seeing as my 20th Anniversary was 2013!"  The second meaning is that this post is going to be a post about time. Or rather it's going to be a collection of my musings about time, since I claim to know nothing about time, and reading it is certainly not going to enlighten  readers in any way about time! (In other words, continue reading only if you have a little time on your hands!)

The truth is, I am completely baffled by time.  Time is a mystery to all of us, I know, but it seems to me some people--maybe even most people--have a better handle on it than I do! For instance, I can't understand why, once I am ready to go to my teaching job--- showered, dressed, and fed-- it takes ten minutes to actually leave. What am I doing with that time? It can't possibly take ten minutes to put on a coat and grab my keys, can it? And yet, it is always so. Also, even after 20 years of creating Teddy Bears, I still cannot answer a question frequently asked by people when they find out what I do for a living; "How long does it take to make a bear?" It is challenging, of course, because each bear is different. Some are larger, some are smaller, some include details which others do not, and some are dressed while others simply wear a bow. I expect it varies from one day (one day being within a 24 hour period, and not necessarily limited to a typical 8 hour work day!) to two weeks of working daily. I can say for certain that bears with plain paws take much less time to make than the ones with the trapunto detailing, but I cannot tell you how long it takes to complete either bear! I can tell you that trimming the face on a bear made from dense alpaca or mohair takes much, much longer than trimming the sparse fur on a vintage style Teddy, and that the super dense luxury synthetics take even longer to trim than the alpaca or mohair, but if you ask how long it takes to trim a bear's face, I cannot say for sure.  I am also befuddled by time when I am immersed in my work. Quite often I head to my studio after dinner and become so involved in a project I am enjoying, that it seems time is standing still. It isn't of course, and when I finally stand, stretch, and turn around to look at my clock, it's 3AM! (Perhaps I should put my clock in front of me when I work!) How is it 3 o'clock already? For that matter, how is it 2014 already?! I wonder how it can be that holding my sons as babies can seem like just yesterday, and ages ago at the same time. The older I get, the worse it gets!

When I decided to make a bear to celebrate my 20th anniversary, I wanted him to be very special, to show how much my collectors mean to me. I also wanted him to somehow signify the passage of time that an anniversary marks, which is why I decided to make him a time traveler. As I worked on him, investing a lot of time in my little time traveler's accessories, (way more time than I anticipated--but of course that happens all the time) I found myself thinking that this dear little fellow in my hands was kind of the embodiment of a fantasy of mine. I would love to be able to visit other places in time, or to relive hours to get more done as Hermione does using her timer-turner in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  But most of all, I would love to be a little less clueless about time!

I loved every moment I spent on him, and I love the way my little time traveler turned out! Here are a few more photos of Emmet..Yes, I know--it's about time!

Swim Upstream or Go with the Flow?

It has been a while since I have posted, and the longer the time in between posts the more difficult it is to create a coherent topic- so much to say!

First, I'm going to share a story about swimming in the Arkansas River when I was a child. My mom, my brother and I were visiting my mom's friend in Kansas. There were several surprising things about this river, the first being its name. It's name is pronounced as it is written,  Ar- Kan-zas, and not Ar-kan-saw like the state that shares its name. The second surprise was how shallow it was. We waded far from the bank, and it seemed like we could have walked all of the way across without going in over our heads! The river's current was not too strong where we were, but it was still moving enough that when my brother and I tried to swim upstream, we paddled and paddled without getting anywhere, like we were on a water treadmill. We thought this was pretty fun, but we did get tired. Not too far from where we were playing there were large posts which held up a bridge that crossed over the river. Mom's friend had warned us that the water was deeper around these posts, but I guess we weren't paying attention and strayed too near. One moment we were playing, the next, my brother's head suddenly disappeared under the water, like he had been sucked down a drain. There was a second of panic, but my mom's friend had grown up swimming in that river, and he dove down, pulled my brother up onto his chest and then floated gently out of the eddy. He told us if it happened again, we should not try to swim or struggle, but to relax and float so the current would take us out. Go with the flow.

I mention this story because I thought of it last night when I left my studio and came to bed. Sometimes when I am feeling really overwhelmed and behind, an image of swimming upstream, or even drowning comes to mind. (Yes, I know I can be a bit dramatic!) I have always had a habit of working on many projects at once, and at times I try to fight this, feeling somehow it would be more efficient for me to work on one thing until it is finished, but I am beginning to think it is not so much a habit as a personality trait as I just keep doing it! It can be frustrating at times. This month, for example, I have been spending many hours in my studio, but just last week I was near tears looking at my plans for January, and feeling like I had done nothing! On the list were studio reorganization, finishing some orders, finishing the 20th Anniversary Bear mentioned in the previous post, and making the bears for Silly Bears to take to Hugglets! The reality was that I had done much, but had finished nothing! I can't seem to change the way that I work, so I think perhaps I need to change the way I think about it. To go with the flow, so to speak. I have done a great deal this month; I have reorganized most of my studio, reorganized my basement storage area,  I began to sculpt some dolls for the Quinlan show, I finished the first four bears of 2014 (apart from accessories), and three other bears are well on their way to being finished!

Here are a few photos of my studio. It has not changed completely, but the few changes I have made will make a big impact on my work flow I think!

Looking in from the stairs. 

Another view from the stairs

The Ikea Hemnes desk and sofa table shown above are not new, but arranged together they are one of the best purchases I have made for my studio. They provide great storage and a large work space! In fact, I like them so much I bought another sofa table! To the right of it is my new "walk-in closet" under the stairs. This has always been there, but it was previously so stuffed and so poorly arranged that I had to nearly everything out to get something from inside it. Now I can walk in, see at a glance all that is there, and get what I need without dismantling the whole thing.

New sofa table and walk in closet!

The addition of the shelf and hanger bar to the closet makes a big difference. The other contents of the closet are on a small bookcase which was formerly on the short wall where I have the new sofa table now.

Cute suit case boxes from Michael's 

Small bookcase in closet

My sewing station

This little chest of drawers was holding my CDs, but after looking at some "re-purposed" drawers on Pinterest. I doubled the storage by turning the chest and its drawers into shelves! I plan to repaint it at some point.

Four drawer chest with Christmas motif

The drawers stacked on their sides still hold my CDs.

The chest now holds baskets with work in progress.

My painting and sculpting station has not changed much except that I have moved all the necessary supplies to the adjacent shelves.( Many things were previously tucked elsewhere in my studio!)

Sculpting and painting station

Work in progress

An extra large sculpting stand becomes a rotating tool holder!
My mom did the painting for me!

The little sign on the left used to hang on the studio wall, but I am making a new sign...

Let whatever you do today be enough!

And for those of you waiting to see BEARS on this blog, here is my work table now~!

It's messy, but I'll clean it later!

Waiting for accessories.

Happy New Year!!!! And My 20th Anniversary Bear Drawing

Even though every year seems to fly by faster than the previous one, it never ceases to amaze me! It really feels like only yesterday I was writing this blog post full of plans and anticipation for 2013! Re-reading the post just moments before the calendar page will be turned to 2014, is a gentle reminder to me that time waits for no one. Oh, who am I kidding--there's nothing gentle about it! The plans that did not yet come to fruition are hitting me like a ton of bricks! I want to yell, "Hey, wait 2013! I wasn't finished with you yet!"

In spite of that I plan to finish the year on a positive note. After all, I did accomplish some of my goals and it really has been a good year. I did create bears and animals for five shows. I even finished a doll, which has been on my list of goals for several years now, and I was very pleased with her!  A total of 43 bears, (and kitties and a doll) were created by me in my studio this year and they all found homes!

Also, the year started with three of my pieces being awarded TOBY Industry's Choice Awards, and these two fellows were awarded Best of Show by the show visitors.

And, while I didn't do the drawing for my special 20th anniversary give away in March, I have been collecting the names of all of those who have adopted bears this year in this jar There are 43 entries which I have double checked in my record book.

I have a special anniversary bear near completion- he will be ready by Saturday, and my husband drew the lucky winner tonight! Congratulations to Doug Bost! And thank you so very much to all of my collectors! I could not enjoy this wonderful business without you all!

Sorry about the sideways video...I should know my camera doesn't automatically rotate videos like it does photos, but I think you can see it anyway!