Checking in!!!

Well, I'm back. I'm going to have to try again with the "unplugged" week. It was a busy week since my husband and I were in his brother's wedding and I didn't really completely unplug--I am addicted to the internet! However, I did succeed in getting a lot more bear time in, but instead of having a couple of finished bears to show, I now have eight bears in various stages. I guess I'm still having focus issues, but at least I have focused on making bears for my show!

Six of the in progress bears are Little Floppies in an array of colors.



As you can see, my new "Production Supervisor" keeps a close eye on my work!



I also spent part of the week working on a project with Brendan. He has written a book about me and my bears! He really wrote the text with only a little editing from me, and he designed the pages. He's a good little writer and I have saved so many of his school assignments because he liked to write about family members. I had taken a lot of photos of a bear in progress for a presentation I was doing last year and he used those to create this book on Shutterfly. He's so excited that we can have it printed and we plan to donate copies to both his school library and mine.
Here it is:

Click here to view this photo book.

I've got to get back to work, so I have something finished to share!

It's Summertime!!!

Well, school is finally out for both myself and the boys, and we are so ready. They are ready for a break, and I am ready to switch gears from teaching to bears and dolls so I have something to take to the Sauder Village show in six weeks!!
I have not been as productive as I had wanted to be during this, my first week out of school, but the boys are in full out summer mode--sleep overs,swimming, and major squirt gun battles in the yard!

I have had some studio time, but I still am finding myself distracted...





Isn't she growing fast? Actually though, even though she's always right there with me (she's on my lap asleep as I type this) I can't blame Missy for my distraction. I can't even say it is my sons keeping me from being productive. They have been keeping themselves quite busy so far. No. THIS is my distraction. THIS--being here in this chair, looking at this screen!!! I think that the internet is a wonderful place for an artist to read, learn, search, and be inspired. I love looking at all kinds of different arts and crafts on here. I love reading doll and bear artists blogs, and connecting to artsy folks in forums, but there are dolls and bears in my head waiting to be made and there is a show coming up!!! So as of right now, I'm declaring myself "unplugged" for a week! I will not surf.I will check my email only once per day, and limit my time doing it. I have a couple of bears in the works right now, and I am hoping that by the time I post here again next Friday, I'll have those two and one more finished for you to see. (hope I can do this)
See you in a week!

Mickey and Missy

Wow,I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! Things are getting busy at school (both the school where I teach and the school my sons attend) with the year winding down.

I have had some creative time though, working on special orders still and playing a little at doll sculpting when I have a chance. I've also been a tiny bit distracted.
Let me intruduce my tiny distraction.

This is Missy.



This is Missy in the dollhouse (or Bear house)



Missy is a delightful little distraction who came to me from one of my students. Even though she is still quite small she's already twice the size she was when I brought her home, and her little body is taking on the proportions of a cat. And when ever this miniature cat walks by me I cannot resist scooping her up for a snuggle. If she is tired, she will reward me with a rumbling purr, and sometimes fall asleep in my arms or lap. If she is "busy" she will let me pet her for a little while then wriggle away to chase her toy mouse, a water bottle lid, or her "big brother" Cinder. The whole family adores her. Well,not all of us "adore" her, I guess. Cinder, our older male cat, simply tollerates her. She wants so badly to play with him and he'd rather just lay around.

Missy loves to be where the action is even when the action is simply setting up a photograph of my latest bear. Do you see the gray bur on the right side of this photo?



What was that? Oh, there she is!



The bear is Mickey, a special order for a collector who collects only black and tan bears. I am so pleased with the way he turned out, but black bears are such a challenge to photograph--even without a tiny gray kitten streaking in and out of the photo tent! Mickey got his name because, before I airbrushed him, he reminded me of a certain famous mouse!



I think this outdoor shot of him is a little better. What do you think?


My head is filled with project ideas (as always) and summer is on it's way, so watch this space for more updates.

By the way, if you are interested in seeing my work in person, please visit me in Archbold, Ohio in August for the Sauder Village Doll and Teddy Bear Show and Sale Hope to see you there!

A Mouse in a Box

Here is a story for you, dear Blog Readers:

Once there was a mouse trapped inside a cardboard box. She wanted to get out, so she chewed a bit here and a bit there, trying to make a hole in the box, and made small holes all over the box until she finally chewed one big enough to get out!
Once there was another mouse trapped in a box. This mouse wanted to get out so she chewed and chewed in the same spot, and in no time at all she had made a hole large enough to get out of the box. The End

Of course it is pretty easy to see the lesson in the story, but try as I might to change my ways, I am the first little mouse! It would probably be more time efficient to begin one project, and only work on that one project until I had it finished. But I always end up working on several things at once!

Here are some things I have been working on--and even a couple that are finished!!!

A Sailboat Make Over
You may recall Edward Bear, the young sailor from an earlier post this month. He was going to have a sailor-boy doll, but he asked me instead to give him a little sailboat to play with. I found three lovely sailboats at Hobby Lobby, but I wanted the colors to match Edward's collar. So, I took the boat apart and painted the sails and the hull.








A Ball-Jointed Doll Head
When I was planning to make a doll for Edward Bear, I started to sculpt this head. But she didn't want to be a sailor boy. She came out cute, but she wants a posable ball-jointed body! (She will have to be patient, because I am still working on bears for orders and shops!)



Little Floppies
Yes, I am doing more of these cuties! Some for orders some for shops!



Two V.I.P.s (Very Important Pandas, that is.)
I have had a number of special commissions from collectors recently and two were one of a kind pandas. One bear was sent to his new home before I had a chance to photograph him, but Raphael had a chance to pose. He will meet his new mom on Monday.





I had better get back to work on all my projects!

"Life is Drawing Without an Eraser"

"Life is Drawing Without an Eraser"
I just read that quote in an email I received today, and I love it! When it comes to my artwork, I like realism and precision. I can spend hours trimming a Teddy Bear snout to get the shape just right, and if I don't bake a polymer clay sculpt right away, I could tweak it forever. But for some reason, I also love to draw with a pen. For me, the fact that I know I can't go back and erase somehow frees my inhibitions. It takes away that "it-has-to-be-perfect" pressure. If I know I can't erase, then what is there is there. My pen and ink sketches always have a much more energetic quality about them, and even though they are not perfect, I love them. I suppose life is like that too. It is good to have a plan, but sometimes when we let go of our plans and preconceived notions, great things happen. One example is my job search last summer. I had planned to get a full time teaching job at my sons' school. It was the only place I had applied because I was sure I would be teaching there this school year. It is close, there were four openings which I was qualified for, and the pay was great! It was the "perfect" job for me. I was devastated when I didn't even get an interview. I had not planned to look at private schools because the pay is always significantly less, but I had to check out other options when the positions I wanted were filled. When I saw the opening for the art teacher at St. Bernadette School online, my heart literally started to race, and I knew this was going to be my job. I would get to teach art, my passion, even though I am still short a few credit hours for certification in art. (a public school district like the one my sons attend cannot be that flexible.) It is a part time job which is wonderful because I still have plenty of time to do my own artwork. It is not perfect. I wish it were closer to home, and I think we all would like to be paid more for our time and experience, but it really doesn't matter because, like a lively sketch that flows from my pen when I let myself go, I absolutely love it!

Edward Bear--What's in a Name?

This is Edward Bear. He is going to hold a little boy doll in a sailor suit. I was going to make a bear to hold a Goldilocks doll, but as I began to cut his pieces I began to picture a bear with a light blue sailor collar holding a little boy doll with a sailor suit. The gold color of the fur made me think of Pooh and Christopher Robin and I thought this pair could be reminiscent of them. Later, as I took the last stitches in the bear, I began to think (as I often do at that point in bear making)"What will I name him?"
My train of thought went something like this. "He's going to wear a sailor collar so what is a good sailor name...Dad was a sailor...Hey today is February 25, dad's birthday and the bear's birthday too!...and my brother in law Chris's birthday as well--the doll could be Christopher! Edward Bear and Christopher for my father and my brother-in-law who share this bear's birthday! Those names are perfect because they also are reminiscent of Christopher Robin and Pooh since Pooh was once called Edward Bear! Serendipity!
Now. I had better get busy and make his doll!

Look, Mom! No Hands!

Or arms even for that matter! Help!



Here is a bear that I am working on. He will have a doll to hold like "Theodore Loves His Teddy" so I have made wire armatures for his arms. I use electrical cable, duct tape, and quilt batting. I bend the paw into shape, then wrap it with duct tape. I cut away the plastic coating on the end and clip all but two of the wires flush with the plastic. I used the remaining wires to wrap around the joint bolt. The armature is wrapped with quilt batting that is secured with strong thread.





The bear is finished now and his arms will help him hold on tight to his little doll. In the mean time though, he wants to hold hands with Paddington!



I'll post progress on his doll next.