Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I rarely have two bears in the studio at the same time, but I've got a layaway here, so I thought this would be a great way to show an example of what changes when I enlarge or reduce the head and paw size.  both of these bears are about 18" - and essentially the same pattern, although morphed in all directions. . i.e. Gordy, on the left, has wider gussets, fatter, shorter legs, and Gavin, on the right, has a longer neck, much small feet and paws, a longer nose. .

I also enlarge or reduce the accessories to enhance the supposed size of the bear.  Gordy is supposed to be smaller & younger, so he has a larger trash can & bigger cans in his trash.  to emphisize Grovers bulk, he has lots of tiny little cans and bottles.

meet Gordy - 18"

more about Gordy at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-De … 172&type=1

definately not.  the secondary market is crippled at best, we all see what low prices resellers are getting, even of fairly new stuff, but more importantly, you'd most likely be loosing sales of your new pieces by selling her old ones - I think the market is that tight - and you can't afford that.  it's not like you are going to risk losing her as customer anyway, she's selling off, she probably won't be buying again for a long time.

I have been asked this before, and if I can, I give them the names of any clients who I think might be interested (or give her a few you know are not) just to show that I do care.  and I'd always, always, always prefer they used my photos - providing the bear was in mint condition.  I've seen to many badly shot bears out there to trust anyone, and regardless, my name is attached, I want it to look it's best

bobbie, it's true.  I've been playing with proportions a lot this year, and it's amazing how small you have to go with the head and paws to achieve truly realistic proportions.  thanks for the pics :-)

meet -Joy. . . because some times happiness is as easy as finding a can of peas with your name on it. . .

Joy is 18" long from tip of her nose to the end of her tail, multi-jointed (14 joints, plus neck & spine and 20 individual toes), made of Tissavel ‘wildlife’ series tipped faux fur with an inset chest stripe, leather paw pads, claws, inset taxidermy eyes with leather eyelids, and pink suede inner mouth with black leather lips. she comes with her gold leather can of peas & 5 leather peapods (with semi-precious stone beads for peas, for weight) available, message me or email inquiries to kelly@kellyandco.net

more pic on FB - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-De … 0786445172

love it.  love it.  love it

or it could just be a stray and one of her kittens.  there is a whole bunch of feral cats living between the lumberyard and the feedmill - apparently it's mouse city!  these guys were funny because they saw us - I was walking my pups - but the pups didn't see them on the other side of the tracks

can you see me now???

Gavin is 16"  long (depending on how you measure – on all 4’s, from tip of nose to tip of tail, he is 18" ) and about 13" -14"  when seated on his haunches. He is fabricated out of 2 shades of Tissaval faux fur with a leather nose, top-appliqued tapunto leather paw pads, stitched leather claws and eyelids over German glass eyes. Gavin has a complete neck and spine with 14 additional joints, pose-able paws and wired ears. Gavin started out as 1.25"  long fur and was extensively clipped, shaved, scissors-sculpted and airbrushed to achieve his finished form. Gavin Grizzly comes complete with the kit shown, a silver leather trashcan and assorted leather ‘tin ‘cans with vintage labels scanned and screened onto silk batiste.

move on FB if you'd like a peek - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set … 0786445172

I like him very, very much!!!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

:hug:  :hug:  :hug: thank you, friends!  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

soooooooooooo freakin cute!!!!!!!!!!  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

Gilbert Grizzly - my take on a grizzly cub at about 3 months - just able to leave the den, but still sporting his pink nose and pawpads  he is 18" long and about 11" at the shoulder when standing on all 4's. he has a complete neck and spine, along with 14 joints. he's made of a vintage faux fur with leather paw pads, claws and eyelids

there are more pics on FB if you'd like a peek - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-De … 0786445172

gosh, bless you all!  they were fun to play with  :dance:

lol. . . well, Linda Benson says 'teats' which is probably more correct - she's just so much earthier than me  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

I thought you might like a peek at my latest piece - a great grizzly mamma named Ginny and her wee cub Gigi.  this is my first ever realistic bear/cub vignette and I'm really quite pleased with the results.  Ginny is 18" long and made of a way cool  - and very grizzly - faux fur and Gigi is made of vintage shaded alpaca.  both are multi-jointed with leather paw pads, claws and eyelids.  I've continued to experiment with armatures with these two, and although I'm not into getting really detailed as far as 'anatomically correct' goes with my bears, I felt that nursing was central to the theme of motherhood I wanted this piece to evoke, so I did do some further research and gave Ginny a bears requisite 6 nipples on her chest & belly (now try googling 'bear breasts' - or nursing bears - and just see how far you get ;-)

there are lots more pics on facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-De … 0786445172

I did a quick google and came up with this -

http://www.grovesbears.com/bearlythereco2.html

you could email Groves and ask them

:hug:  :hug:  :hug: thank you all, my dear friends!  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

I’ve been focusing on grizzly bears this winter, tracking the physiological changes that occur between cub and adult. Gabriel represents my most ‘adult’ bear to date, with a lot of pattern changes including smaller feet, a radically altered neckline, a longer, thinner body and a smaller face. he’s also my first realistic bear with a contrasting muzzle. Gabe is about 18"  long and 10"  high at the shoulder and is made of super-dense Tissavel faux with an inset muzzle and has leather paw pads, nose and eyelids. he has leather claws – a new, stiffer claw attached to a re-designed armature allowing for more poses with more lateral movement. Gabriel has 4 disk joints and 10 mechanical joints, along with a complete neck and spine-to-tail backbone. Gabriel comes with his 5" silver leather trashcan and assorted leather can and bottles with ‘vintage’ labels.

sorry, I can't seem to upload anything here today, for more details, see my facebook album:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= … =1&theater

every time I upload here today, it uploads and goes to a blank box - then when I try again, it tells me the file already exists on the server - I'm tired of re-naming files only to have it happen again.  anybody else having problems???

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: OMG, how cute is that!!!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

re: what did you do wrong?  did you thoroughly wet the fabric with plain water before immersing it?  was your dye bath completely mixed?  was your pot large enough to stir the fabric around freely?  all of these could lead to splotchy, tye-dyed looking fabic. . . however, if you're stuck with lemons, make lemonade - lots of people do tye-dyed bears and I see lots of splotchy, hand dyed furs for sale out there, it might just make up into a something great :dance:

thanks, ya'll! :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

beautiful bears, wonderfully done, biiiig congratulations!~ :clap:  :dance:  :clap:

yaaaaaayyyyyyy, Paula! a beautiful bear from a beautiful lady always wins my heart  :clap:  :clap:

gosh, thanks, everyone!!!!!  I've got to say that I'm pleased as punch - and a wee bit worried, as I'm sure up against a stellar bunch!!!

thanks again!