Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Sheryl,
Wonderful pattern! Nothing is wrong with your design!  I think the problem is the fur. A Lab's fur should have a sense of direction and a little more length than the fur you are using. I know we are all having problems finding fur , lately, but a good fur would make all the difference  :thumbsup:
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

I'm not sure what to do about this? I was planning to list a new cat on ebay in a couple of days. It's one of my new reclining cat designs and it happens to be a Himalayan. I just checked and a reseller has put up one of my old Himalayan sitting cats from 2002! :doh:  At first I thought; what's the use, I'd be competing against myself. But then I thought; maybe, I would get some of the traffic if I put up a different breed of cat. I'm thinking a Maine Coon. What do you think? Should I wait it out, or list? I'm so disappointed  I worked really hard on this new cat to get him ready for the weekend. But nothing's lost, he'll be at Disney with me in May.
Karen
P.S. The old 2002 Himalayan is up to $300 in one day, what the heck is going on with this seller?!

Krista!
How difficult, but she is Beautiful! Black is so hard, it's blinding to work with. I try to avoid any orders for black cats, althought, I've done a few. I hope your collector realizes how lucky she is 
Karen

Ok,
I'm tough. I refuse to store any guys I don't like, they would haunt me  I do what I call a headectomy; I pop the head off, salvage what I can; i.e. eyes, ears, nose. Then I start over with a new head. Since it's almost always the head/face that goes wrong that's enough to get me started again.
Karen
P.S. But I agree, I would LOVE that Sloth 

I love that TOBY award, too. I got one a couple of years ago and it's such a perfect award. It comes in a nice little box so you can carry it to your shows and the rainbow effect catches everyone's eyes. Great choice, Mindy! Paula, enjoy it and use it  :clap:
Karen

Well,
I have to say   It depends on your audience. It is VERY important, if you are selling to collectors, to be exact in your series. There must be a beginning and an end. I know we don't want to think about this, but the value of a series is that an artist creates only so many pieces. It is misleading to create a series and then extend it. Many collectors buy from a limited series because they know it will be a rare piece. We have to understand the collector market and respect their collections.
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

WOW!
Congratulations! to you both! I've never seen anything like them and I've been in teddy bears for a long time (we won't get into how long ;-) Just amazing 
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Michelle,
I've seen this before, but I still LOVE it! IF you listen close, cats do have a special language. It's not just meow    When I was a child we had a wonderful mother cat who loved us kids and we loved her . Whenever there was a ruckus/fight with us kids (there were 4 of us, it happened a lot!). The first thing she would do is find the dog and WHACK him on the nose! Somehow she figured that any discontent in the family must have started with the DOG!
Karen

Jane!
WOW! What an amazing show! If only we could organize one like it in the US    I, especially, loved your pieces. THey really look like they're from the Heart. But all the artists seemed to have gone "all out" for this show! Congratulations to ALL!
Karen

YES, the Truth is OUT!

".."they're playful, vibrant and cuddly and with an irrestible zest for life..."
THe Bear Guys are all that and more    CONgratulations! Guys!
Karen

Lisa!
Really wonderful  :clap:  Are you bringing them to Washington DC? I'd love to see them up close    But I bet they are sold before I get to your table
Karen

Krista,
It's August 9th at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington D.C.. It's called The DOLLS Awards and Golden Teddy Awards Dinner Banquet. In the past they have done a wonderful show! Really like the academy awards of dolls and teddy bears. Great food. Elegant ballroom with candles and fantastic table decorations made by artists and doll/teddy manufacturers. At the end, during dessert, they tell everyone how to tell who has won the centerpiece at your table. THere's always a number or some trick we didn't notice. One year we ALL got a piece from RJ Wright (the special speaker and "artist of the year"). It was a replica of his original muslin doll that launched his business (They were the only ones ever made). It was such a surprise! Even the sponsors didn't know about it  He had some of his staff come in and hide boxes under the tables. Anyway, I know it's a long stretch for you. I think this is my 6th year attending. If anyone comes, I'm at Table #30 with the cats (and a few bears) 
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

:hug: Congratulations! Tammy, Tami, Bobbi, Christine and  :dance: Patricia! First time I've seen one of your pieces. A really wonderful cat!
Karen
KJ Lyons Design
Soooo who is going to be at the ceremony?

Krista,
Yes    I'll be at the awards ceremony in Washington D.C.. Will you be there? It's a really elegant and fun dinner and ceremony.
Karen

Lisa! Couldn't happen to a nicer person!
Now lets get down to business :photo: . See if you can get extra copies of the magazine. Do have one cover professionally framed. Then laminate or use a portable frame for another copy that you can bring to shows. It's really great if you can get extra copies of the magazine and hand them out to special collectors or other PR people interested in your creations. Saves a lot of explanation time and they'll remember it better than a quick talk.   :dance: OK, continue celebrating  :bday:
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Krista has a similar problem?! as I. So MANY details! A lot of my time is spent dyeing, hand coloring, needle sculpting, and each cat/bear has at least 21 fur pieces to sew. I'm counting just the actual making of a cat. Adding in the photography and computer time would be too depressing  Straight through, the actual construction would take me about 20 hours. I have cut down on that time by working with 3 or 4 characters at a time . That way I can be dyeing while doing other stages and I can have everything out for 3-4 cats instead of putting things away and taking them out for each creation. Takes a lot of mental juggling, especially, when I'm doing portrait or special commission cats. I keep long lists of all the details for each creation as it goes along and I keep referring back to try to keep it all straight    With this new method I think I have it down to 17 hours/each.
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Michelle,
OF course I know cats    But I also worked at the Audubon center and helped with a crow that had been raised by a groundskeeper and could not be let out into the wilds. Her name was Princess and she was SO smart! I would come in a couple of times a week and I would just play with her. First I would go to the sink and she would wait for me to fill the sink with water and she would take her bath. SHe always knew when I was there. Even if I was in another room she would hear my voice and start yelling for me  She loved to play games. I started bringing in infant toys, stacking cups, simple puzzles and she learned how to use them! Amazing! Crows are wonderful and smart. It's sad that so many people think of them just as pests.
Karen
P.S. I also had a crow family that visited my backyard. I learned their family by the exact number that came together and carefully observing little details. Among them was an elderly weak crow. The other crows protected and guided this crow.

Here's my new studio with my OLD equipment    My sewing machine is from the 1940's, but I love it! And my drawing table is from a friend and equally as old. As you can tell, I believe in surrounding myself with images of the animal I'm creating. I also have floor to ceiling storage with labeled clear boxes so I can read and see what is in them. At least my studio is organized I wish I could say the same for my brain
Karen
KJ Lyons Design
P.S. My sewing machine is simple but it has a motor the size of a Volkswagen! It can sew through anything, even 1/2 inch leather 

Today, I'm working on four projects at once. I had such organized ideas about what I was going to do this year I've already entered my shows for the year and I have planned advertising. I have new designs I want to explore. But THEN, I get this wonderful group of photos from a customer, with the most beautiful cat and I'm off    "I just have to create a likeness of this cat." How to keep on track? Or is it better to go with the flow? I know there has to be balance if I'm going to keep running my studio as a business. How do you decide, set limits?
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Krista
How wonderful! Sebastian has a friend and they're both going to a wonderful collector!
Karen

Valerie,
You got me    I've been busy and stalling on my renewal but this issue got me back! It's just wonderful and informative 
Karen

:clap: 
Amazing pieces! I think we all have to remember that our art just might be "ahead of the curve". When I first started creating my cats I think the judges didn't know what to make of my work?! There were very few "other" animal artists when I started. I perservered, tried to improve my work and eventually I was accepted. I'm really glad I didn't stop at the first rejections
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

I just started thinking about this, this afternoon, after finishing an adult education class for html code (I wanted to gain more control of my code for my website). I was so far behind most in the class but the teacher was a "Saint", he worked individually with me and never let on how stupid I am about computers  I know he wasn't being paid much to teach this class and I learned so much! THen I thought back to all the great, selfless teachers I have had. I remembered the sculpture teacher who lead me to the "right" path  I had been taking classic sculpture classes for about 6 years and I rebelled, I wanted to stop doing sculptures of naked people and start with animals. He let me do this in his class but I started to bring in artist sketches of animals(bears) and other artist's works. I was naive, now I know better. Anyway, he was very gentle. He suggested that I go to the Central Park Zoo(I was living in NYC) and observe the animals, then he signed me up for a sketch class that took place at the NYC Natural Museum of History, at night! Yes  it was spooky being in the museum at night sketching the taxidermy animals with no other humans around!! But I got the point! I had to develop my own style and method of working. I am so grateful to all my past teachers. Anyone else have stories?
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Lynn,
This is an interesting new idea, that's why I'm struggling with it. In the past I don't think any artist would have liked giving the collector the ability to change the look/mood of the piece they had designed. But I do think that in this age of internet, and control of what we see and watch, buyer interaction with a piece might become appealing. BUt I do worry about control of our artistic ideas   What if a buyer sets a certain expression on your piece, one that is not exactly something you would choose, and then offers the piece on ebay?
Karen

  I've been thinking hard about this?!
I probably could use my open-mouth cat with the solid insert; cut the insert in half and add side joints, either wire or actual joints. Not too difficult. But then I started to think, Why :rolleyes:, I am going for a certain expression for each of my pieces. There is a good chance that this mechanism will lose that expression and maybe even do "bad things" to what I was trying to accomplish with the piece. I'm not against innovation. Right now I'm working hard to improve my use of an eye-socket and how I can use it to create real expressions in the cat's eyes. I'm just not sure about this adjustable thing for the future collectibility of pieces?
Karen
KJ Lyons Design