Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Amazing, amazing fur - I love it!

She is a lovely little dog - I especially love her tiny claws.

She is great. I love how you have done the face, and particularly love her hat aswell. 
Best wishes,
Claire.

Gorgeous - beautiful shading. 

He is great - I love the aged bears you do. Love the colour-way on this one. 

Beautiful little face on this guy - love it!

She is really, really excellent. Best of luck with your listing.
Kind regards,
Claire.

Hi Anna
Such a sweet face - you capture such sweet expressions in your bears

Lovely expression, beautiful colours

I really love this duo, and also Enay - really unusual with lovely colouring. 

Sweet little guy - lovely colours

He is amazing. Best of luck with your listing. 

Great hat, beautifully aged mohair

I love this!  What a great colour.

Aww...he looks like he needs a hug!  Love the outfit.   
Best wishes,
Claire.

Hi Emily,
Just checked out your Blog - I think that George is really charming.  I look forward to seeing your other bears.
Kind regards,
Claire.

This is a really lovely bear - sweet expression and great proportions. I love clowns. 
I know what you mean about the leaves - ours are just starting to turn in the West Midlands. 
Best wishes,
Claire.

Beautiful face and lovely fur
Best wishes,
Claire.

What beautiful fur...
Sweet face, too.
Best wishes,
Claire.

A really great little dog - and unusual, too.
Best wishes,
Claire.

Really beautiful, Tatiana - perfectly captures the plaintive expression of a spaniel.
Best wishes,
Claire.

Hi,
I have seen a few artist bears that make use of boiled viscose fur.  I wondered if anyone has tried this technique for ageing the fur?  Do you literally just boil up the viscose in a saucepan?
Many thanks,
Claire.

Hi Emily,
This is a really interesting topic, I'm glad you posted it.  In answer to your questions:

1.  I always have several bears on the go.  If the 'magic' is just not happening, I store the bear away for a while and come back to it later.  Quite amazingly, I have had a few bears that frustrated me for what seemed like ages, and then came good in the end.  It's like they have a personality all their own, the temperamental little things - ! 

2. I had this problem more when I first started, and have got more confident only with time.  When I began making bears (around 18 months ago) I would use the cheaper Helmbold value range, so that I wouldn't feel too bad if I made a mess of things.  I found it took me ages to pluck up the courage to use more expensive fabrics!  Another strategy that helped me (and that I still use) was to make a rough draft in cheap cotton fabric of any new design.  I think they call this a "toile" in the rag trade.  You have to imagine the fur over the top, but it does give you an idea of proportion.  With other techniques such as shading, I do a test run on some spare fur.  I have heard that some people use cheap bears for this, too. (The sort that you can pick up in a craft shop or pound store.)

3. With big decisions, I do a lot of sketches, and a few practice-runs (as above).  My rule of thumb, though, is always to be bold - a mistake will teach me a lot, whereas always playing safe won't move me forward. 

On the subject of mohair, some work for me a lot better than others, and I think you will find that you will get your favourites.  I like a good, sturdy backing fabric.  A few weeks ago I had to cut a bear to pieces because the backing fabric was so loosely woven that it couldn't support the jointing and everything went haywire... That was my biggest disaster so far. 
I think that bear making is quite an intuitive activity - some bears seem to just make themselves, others are frustrating, and others assert themselves so forcefully that they end up being a completely different bear to the one I had planned!  Good luck with your creating. 
Best wishes,
Claire.

I love the eyes 

Great job on the trunk