Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Kim,
Do you have a lawyer to the arts in your area that could give you free advice? I can't believe the arrogance!
Karen

Wow! Looks like a lot of the photos were taken in an office which would mean they actually have the bear captive THey may be trying to see how many orders they can get and if there are enough orders they will manufacture the bear? They are fast. They could have the bear apart, create a pattern, source the fur and be ready to produce in a couple of days.
Karen

LeeAnn,
Congrats! You didn't tell me about the marriage :hug: 
Working in my studio is, to me, more real world than any outside job I have had  Also it's physically harder than any job I have had. I support myself and thoroughly enjoy what I do but it takes a tremendous amount of hours and you have to constantly reinvent and evaluate where you are going with your business. It's challenging to balance all this and still keep the creative spark. I think that is why many bear artists chose not to make their art their career?
Karen

LOVE, that we brought back the Steampunk discussion. I think the name scares off some collectors. Steampunk is sort of Victorian leaning toward the Jules Verne novels. Very creative and imaginative. Here's the results of the early part of this discussion. Jules, he's about 15" tall. I particularly like his top hat clock with the black cat center pin. I really want to do my next Steampunk, maybe a Polar Bear. But I think I have to get through the Holidays before taking on any more projects. Love to see more Steampunk from the group. Wonderful stuff :clap:

Mary Lou,
Welcome back! THere is so much I'd like to tell you about this NEw bear world. For now, I'll just say your prices are way too low! I'm not just saying that because I know the quality and art of your bears, but because your price structure puts you in market position that isn't doing very well in this economy. Enough business. Have fun and enjoy 
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! These duckies are crowding me!

A raft of jellyfish float down Pike's Market in Seattle ~ HaPpY HaLLoWeeN 

I think it's been about a year since my second in the Beggars series? Tiger Blue is a Saxophone Player.
Tiger Blue is 15" tall, with an 9" tail. Blue is created out of the finest quality Belgium faux fur. He has hand-colored features. His has orange flecked golden hand colored eyes set in handmade eye sockets. Tiger Blue has a sculptured suede nose and a sculptured open mouth with an ultra suede tongue. His neck and back legs are jointed, his front legs have armatures for posing. He is poly-filled and weighted in strategic places for a proper feel. He has a very realistic saxophone which even has a bamboo reed. The saxophone comes in a black carrying case with a fitted red velvet lining. His satin lined black leather vest is custom made for him. And I have made a 40's style satin hatband for his fedora hat. If he comes to you, he will bring you the Moon! (Actually, it's his moon and it smiles down on him.)
http://tinyurl.com/3z3nd7s

Something Wicked This WAY Comes! Love that face.........
Cats do have a very keen six sense and will notice situations way before humans sense anything. 
Karen

I use Vertical Response http://www.verticalresponse.com/
No monthly fees, you just pay by how many emails you send out. I've had great service and they do give you all the statistics on your mailings. I particularly like that they tell you when an email bounces or does not go through for some other reason. It's important to keep your list clean and up to date. You don't want to annoy customers by sending emails to people who haven't asked to be contacted.
A mailing list is work. No way around it. I have a sign-up on my website. Once a week I enter these into my Vertical Response list. The website message comes directly to me. This way I can respond to the person, then I put them both into my Cat Gazette list and into my personal address book.  I also keep a pad by my computer for customers who ask me to include them in mailings. Once a week I enter these into my Vertical Response list. I like to keep two lists, one on Vertical Response and my own personal copy.  Be careful that you work with a reputable email service that does NOT share your list! If you have a list over 100 people you are pretty much forced to use a service. My email provider will cut me off for spamming if I send over 50 emails and it's very difficult to explain that I am sending to a cleared mailing list.

Karen
KJ Lyons Design

OK
'If I don't hear from you soon I will be handing over your contact information to my lawyer. You may think that these are vintage images however my artwork has been created with vintage images and have been changed the percentage to qualify for there own copyright.'

Sounds like she is trying to say that she owns these vintage images because she has used them in her artwork. As long as you are only using the original vintage images, she has nothing. Just ignore her. Again, you have just as much right to these images as any other artist.
Karen

I think we are off point, here?

Sheila ~'I have created all my collage sheet & images from bits and pieces of free images online. Some from dover publications and some from free images from public libraries. I've tried to respect copyright issues so I use free images. What do I do? Is she allowed to treat me this way?'

These images are free to use for any purpose    If that wasn't the case, none of us would be able to use the Alice in Wonderland images or almost any other classic Nursery Rhyme story book character.

Karen

This is what I use in my certificates. You can use this, too.

This original work of art is in no sense a copy, reproduction or duplicate of any previous work of art. It represents my own original creative expression. It exists in this unique state only. This work may not be copied or reproduced in anyway without the written permission of the artist.

She probably uses some of the copyright free images, too, and feels she is entitled to them. You have just as much right to use the images as she does and I would just ignore her and continue with your designs. Don't back down, it will only make her feel entitled. Just ignore her. If she's stubborn enough to talk to a lawyer she will soon find out she is wrong in her allegations.
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Leeann,
ThaNkS! But I'll start to sound like an oldster ~ In my day, we had Jim Henson, now that was a real show    Actually, it was nice to see the Pee Wee Herman book come out because I hear they are bringing back the show. Who knows, I still have the patterns I designed, maybe I'll get some business 

Inside Pee-Wee's Playhouse ~ Big Surprise for me, I was informed by the author, Caseen Gaines, that I was included in the book. Way back I designed the toys for the Pee Wee Herman Show, i.e. Pterry, Chairry, Vance the Talking Pig. I thought maybe a line or two but he gave me a whole page! Big deal for me, the book is on Amazon and in bookstores. Already I have had inquiries and questions. No money, but notice is nice, too 

Becky,
I think your discussion helped me decide to try out different venues. My cats are always a little tricky for listing on different websites. They are not really teddy bears even though they frequently fall under the teddy bear category. That's something else I'm exploring, how to reach other audiences.
Karen

Hello!
I've had so many fellow artists ask me about different websites for selling their work. Generally, I only use my monthly Cat Gazette and Ebay once or twice a month. Any other pieces I sell to individual collectors. But I want to get away from Ebay and I thought this would be a good time to experiment with various sites. I decided to set up a full profile for both sites. First impressions; ArtFire is a lot of work just to start listing. It really makes you examine your whole business and goals, very thorough and exacting listing questions. Etsy was easier but a little vague in explaining how your answers were being used? I've just started, for the next couple of weeks I'm going to test ways to publicize and get customers to these two sites. I don't create many pieces a month so this will be a stretch for me, but I thought it was time to really see what our market is on the internet. Anyone have experiences with other selling sites on the internet they'd like to share?
Karen
KJ Lyons Design
P.S. Bear Pile seems to be picking up a lot more sales. Great site for teddy bear artists.

Karen Waschinski organizes this fun Halloween Tour for Bat Conservation. You have to see it! She does an amazing job and it's fun walking through her Halloween internet town  :dance: and looking into the various artist' homes and studios all decorated for Halloween. I saw several TT artist in the village.

http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com
3rd annual Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat Tour
International artists

Kelly Dean,
Love his smile and the natural bear stance!
Karen

This is Fargo. Fargo was a challenge because I did not have the coat pattern to work with as with my other Wild Cats. I had to rely more on his sculpture and shape to show his personality. He is 19" body length with an 11" tail. His neck is double jointed and he has numerous joints and armatures so that he can pose in natural cat-like poses. He's currently up on ebay: http://tinyurl.com/3kfvt9g

Oh Boy~ Fearful, captured kitten. Probably a little feral boy.

The Teddy Bear World is constantly evolving. I believe we're in a bit of a confusing transition right now. Teddy Bears, as a separate art form, arouse from the Doll World (ANd some old-timers still consider us just a spin-off of dolls). When I started back in 2000, entering shows with my realistic style bears and cats, I was rejected by many shows because I did not create traditional teddy bears. The internet has really changed things. In the past our world revolved around several prestigious shows, contests, and the magazines. There was no such thing as forming your own customer base without the help of these entities. At least not a full time business from your art; you had to have their help and acceptance. (I'm sure there were exceptions, but not many.)
Because I still pursue my art as a full time business I am very careful about how I spend my time. I don't have much time for social networks but I do send out a newsletter once a month and I keep in touch with fellow full time artists and discuss what is happening in our world. We all seem to agree that our world is changing. We are worried about the magazines and shows as the internet, for most of us, has become the most cost effective method of sale for our art. Also, I have found that about a third of my sales are now overseas largely because of my exposure via the internet. As much as we want to support and save the other sales/exposure entities, we can't stop or force either artists or, especially, our customers from choosing the method they prefer in selling/finding their bears. But I'm an optimist, I think in evolving we will find a way to gather together and celebrate our art in new ways. Keep you ears and minds open 
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

I guess I'm one of the early joiners ~ June 2006. I have to say, Teddy Talk has helped me more than any other source when it comes to understanding our Teddy world and Teddy business. Also, I've met some amazing artists and friends from around the world! Teddy Talk, was and still is, a truly ground-breaking concept.  :clap:  Thank You! Quy and all the advisors over the years.
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Bobbie,
We think, alike. That was exactly the numbers I was thinking about to make it worthwhile. Although, I still think it would be too much work & stress. And in some ways, I would be competing against my new work. It is a difficult decision. This is a very serious Collector and friend and she has at least 60 of my pieces.

Thank you ALL!
I have felt the same way about this. But I have had several people outside our business say that it was just business, don't make a big deal over it. But you have expressed on the forum some the thoughts that were going through my mind and making me feel uneasy about this whole thing. THe collector is putting a lot of pressure on me to do this, but I will resist.
Thank you 
Karen