Back to School Blues

Do you remember how, when you were a kid, as you enjoyed those last glorious days of summer, your nights would be peppered with those weird anxiety filled back-to-school dreams? You know the ones. You show up to school hours late, you don't remember your locker combination, you can't find any of your books, or the classroom you are supposed to be in, and worst of all, you forgot to wear your pants!!!

As a teacher, I will periodically still have dreams like that, only it's my lesson plans I cannot find, and I have no students, or else, I have students, but they are expecting me to teach a subject I haven't prepared for, like calculus.

This year the dream came right on time, on the night of August 1st, which is the turning point where summer, at first seemingly endless, dwindles down to just a number of days. I dreamed that I showed up the first day of school, and my classroom was completely transformed--but not in a good way. It had been carpeted! (I am an art teacher and the thought of keeping carpet clean in an art room horrified me.) The windows had all been bricked in so my beautiful natural light was gone, horrible old cabinets with chipping paint replaced the new one I'd been given at the end of last year, all of my art supplies were gone, I hadn't even written any lesson plans, and, worst of all, I had no pants!!!

I decided to ease my anxiety and make a trip up to school. I could make a little list of the things I needed to do, maybe put up my bulletin board stuff, or even get started on my lesson plans for the first week. I figured this year I'd have a little more to do than usual. At the end of the school year last year, all of the teachers were told that the furniture would be moved out so that the floors could be refinished. We were instructed to make a detailed map of our floor plan and tape it to our chalkboards so that everything could be put back afterwards. Of course, I made a beautifully detailed, neatly labeled map. Even so, I anticipated there might be a few things I'd have to reorganize when I got back.

When I got to school, my anxiety was not eased, but heightened. I felt like I'd walked into a nightmare! The furniture was moved back in, but placed randomly through out the room.


I am not sure all of my furniture was there, but I did spot several cabinets and carts which do not belong in my classroom.


The contents of the cabinets, which I had carefully organized at the end of last year were stacked haphazardly on tables and placed in a nook at the back of the room which I had worked hard to clear.


The new tall wood cabinet which I was so pleased to receive just at the end of last year has a huge crack in the door. The floor, which was supposedly cleaned (the reason for destroying my room in the first place), had a huge water/rust mark on it. The windows were not bricked in at least. The old ones had been replaced with shiny new ones, but I found it hard to enjoy this improvement in all the mess. I wandered the labyrinth of my classroom, mouth agape, head shaking slowly, and then decided to just go home. When I met the maintenance man in the parking lot, he explained the water/rust stain. The roof over my classroom had been leaking, "water just pouring in". The furniture can't be arranged yet because the floor will need to done again after the roof can be fixed, hopefully next week. Hopefully? School starts in less than 3 weeks! When can I get in to do my bulletin boards, seating charts, and lesson plans? Sigh! I feel like crying, but I guess I should look on the bright side; at least I have my pants!!!

Bear Show Buzz

I am sitting here thinking about the Teddy Bear Artist Signing event I just attended at My Friends and Me, and wondering if any other Teddy Bear lovers get a “bear show buzz”. I do. I call it a buzz because it is a warm, giddy, happy feeling, and I can’t stop smiling, even as I sit here by myself with just the memory of it.


See how happy I am?

What is it about such an event that leaves me basking in happiness for days afterward? It is a combination of lovely atmosphere, beautiful Teddy Bears, and friendly people. The signing event on June 18th at My Friends and Me in Leesburg, Virginia had all of these in abundance. Maria Balser, the shop’s owner, has been planning events such as this one twice a year since she opened her lovely shop 25 years ago.


Maria and her husband Milton.

The shop’s unique setting in a historic log cabin is just the beginning of the warm welcoming atmosphere of the show. Its interior is arranged with a comfortable couch and armchairs around a floor to ceiling stone fireplace, inviting artists and collectors to sit and chat about bears or other happy things. For the event, Maria had a table beautifully set with all manner of tasty finger foods, as well as lemonade and tea.


Yum!


Then there are the bears. Arranged on the mantle piece and hearth, peeking out of glass cabinets and vintage china hutches, riding in old fashioned prams and wagons, and even sitting on the couches beckoning you to sit and join them, are beautiful Teddy Bears from artists all over the world. I could have spent hours just looking at them all. For the show, Maria spotlighted the work of four artists and I was very pleased to be counted among them. Bill and Jean Ashburner from England work as team to create beautiful, natural looking bears whose details and jointing system makes them seem almost alive. Rosalie Frischman from Wisconsin was there as well. Many of her exquisite bears (and dogs and bunnies) were dressed in wonderful handmade dresses, sailor costumes, or dungarees, and each was accessorized like an illustration in an antique storybook. I brought along a grouping of my cuddly, happy bears and was pleased that they all found homes.


Look! It's "my friends and me"!


As much as I love Teddy Bears, I love people even more, and Teddy Bear people are some of the nicest people I’ve met! Maria, her husband Milton, Bill, Jean, Rosalie, the lovely ladies who helped with the show, and all of the collectors were wonderful. Maria warmly greeted guests at the door like dear friends. I don’t doubt that many of them who have been attending the events for years have become just that. Then she took them around to personally introduce them to all the attending artists. It was nice for artists and collectors to have a chance to mingle and talk about those furry friends who brought us all together!


Me, Rosalie Frischman, Bill and Jean Ashburner.

Vacation!

My family doesn't take vacation often enough (who thinks they do, I wonder...)but we like to pack as much fun as we can into one when we go! We just returned from a lovely trip which included staying at a house in Virginia Beach right on the beach, attending a wonderful Teddy Bear Artist Event in Leesburg VA at My Friends and Me, visiting Washington DC, and finally stopping to see my brother Aaron and his wife in Athens, Ohio on our way home. It was beautiful, exciting, relaxing, fun, but of course we are glad to be home.

Here are some of my photos from Virginia Beach.

My Beach Boys





Our Beach House



My beach house "Bear Room"



It has a window with an ocean view!



And here is my first bear finished at a beach house! (He is Ruben #2)



A silly souvenir photo from the Aquarium!



Sleepy boys watching the sunrise on our last day at the beach, after a night of hunting sandfiddler crabs by flashlight!

My Friends and Me

I feel very priviledged to be a guest artist for the signing event to be held next weekend at My Friends and Me in Leesburg, VA. Maria Balsar, the shop's owner, has promoted my work since 2000, and I am excited to be meeting her for the first time. Other artists who will be in attendance at the event are Rosalie Frischman, and Bill and Jean Ashburner, and the shop is full of many lovely bears. If you live nearby, please make sure to come and see us!

My sons made a video preview of the bears I will have available. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

All right, you've caught me...playing dolls again!

I've been working more on my ball jointed doll off an on since I started her in February, and I was thinking she was close to being ready to cast in resin. I have finally got her hands and feet finished, and have finished her knee joints enough for a test stringing. While I was loving her before this, now I am not so sure about her. I felt I was getting closer, but she seems a "little off" in so many ways now I realize I'm not even close to being ready to mold and cast. I have so much left to do!



*I still need to make elbow joints since she doesn't have any at all yet.

*I need to improve both the knee and hip joints aesthetically and functionally. She currently doesn't stand. Her knees will not straighten completely, and I need to make some sort of catch inside the hip to lock them when she stands. I am also considering doing that little sideways channel for the elastic in the hip ball which Volks has used on some dolls so she can do that cute child like sitting position.

*I need to work on the neck/head joint because she doesn't have the range of motion I'd like.

* I need to recheck proportion, because I think her lower legs may be to short, and her hands and feet look too big so they may need to be resculpted. The feet may just be too wide. In my frustration yesterday, I as calling her my Hobbit Girl! I've nothing against Hobbits of course, I rather like them, but that's not what I was going for here.

*I need to add a few more details to the sculpt, working on her eyes and adding subtle indication of nipples to her chest. I will be leaving her pelivis piece plain (many BJDs are anatomically correct, because I think she could be finished as a boy or a girl. In fact, I am giving this sculpt the unisex name of Alex, because my Mom thinks she looks like my son.

*I need to make a headcap attachment mechanism of some kind.

* Finally there is all the smoothing for casting to be done. I try to smooth as I go, but there is still more to be done.

More pictures of this doll in progress can be found in the BJD sculpting Project set on my flickr.

Missy has to find her way into the post! Alex is lurking in the background too!


Only after all of this can I begin to work on making the molds and casting her in resin. As much as I have learned about resin casting so far, I know this will be a big adventure in trial and error, but I am looking forward to it because I can't wait to see her (him) in natural flesh tones with a painted face!

And speaking of painted faces, I have just finished my very first face-up commissions! These two Rosen Lied dolls decided to take the long way home from Rosen Lied in Korea to their home in Australia. They made a stop here in Milford, Ohio to be painted by me!




More pictures of these cuties and my own BJDs can be found on my flickr, too.

I've been working on bears too and hope to have the three I am working on ready to post soon. Stay tuned!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring--Happy Everything!

The bears and I would like to wish everyone a blessed Easter!



This is Pip. (I was listening to the audio book of Great Expectations while working on him so I borrowed the name!)He has been commissioned by a collector in the UK. I'm currently waiting for her appoval of him so I can send him home.

These next two fellows are destined for the special event I will be attending at My Friends and Me in Leesburg, VA in June, and they are shop exclusives. I was so pleased with Pablo, the panda clown I made last month, that I wanted to try a few more with the same design, only different color combinations. They will have hats for the show.

This is Ruben.


And this is Raffi.


I will continue to post preview pictures of the bears for the event. Other artists who will be in attendance include Rosalie Frischman and Jean and Bill Ashburner. Visit www.myfriendsandme.com for more information.

Just Because...

...they are so cute!!!


They are staring down at me next to their empty food bowl at the bottom of the stairs wondering if it's time to eat yet!



I wish the camera flash didn't do that to their eyes. I have to have the flash on or Cinder looks like a cat shaped ink blot on the photo!