Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

OK,
I have a lot of faith in our ebay bidders. Yes, I think it is more difficult with the blind bidding, but I think serious collectors can tell when an auction has shill bidding. I know I suspect when an artist who is new to ebay starts getting high bids right out of the gate  . There's a certain rhythm to bidding. It's true some artists skyrocket right to the top but, usually, it's very obvious why.  Shill bidding can only work for so long. An artist has to stand on their own merit and I think the market will win out. I do believe ebay collectors are pretty smart  :clap:
Karen

Aleta,
The TOBY Award Ceremony will be at the IDEX Show in Las Vegas! I attended the TOBYs last year in Las Vegas and this is the second year that they will be there. The show is a little difficult for most teddy bear artists. It's primarily a wholesale show. But who knows?! The show is under new management and, maybe, it'll get a little friendlier to teddy bear artists?
Karen
P.S. Last year I went just for the awards ceremony and did not have a booth at the show. Sadly, I can't afford to do that this year, so, unless there are changes to the format I won't be attending. But don't let me discourage you! Las Vegas is fun, and how often do you get to attend a TOBY Awards Show!

Kim,
You handled the eyes, beautifully!  I decided on the rounded pupils when I observed my cats inside the house. The slit eye is a reaction to bright light and most of us see our cats in a darker environment where the pupil is almost round. Although I have to admit, for some reason Siamese cat eyes tend to have eye pupils that stay with a more slit appearance. My Persian cat has very rounded pupils almost all the time?!  OK, I'm sure we're boring everyone    Congratulations and I hope you continue creating cats.
Karen

Jared,
Don't forget our trip to the Zoo!
Karen
P.S. I'll definitely be at the dinner and I'm working on getting Michelle Lamb to show up!    After all, she has four nominations!!

Judi,
Just Beautiful! I love the color and the contrast of the white rabbits. Great minds think alike    I had just received some red velvet I had ordered from Canada and I was going to create a cat Red Riding Hood with a mouse in a basket of food. But it will have to be another character. You have Red Riding Hood wrapped-up 
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

BEautiful Siamese 
Not only is she beautiful, you were able to photograph her! I gave up trying to photograph Siamese, but somehow you've figured out a way! Fantastic job  :clap:
Karen

  O.K. I have no children but here are my latest books:
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Book 13, The End (I've read all the Lemony Snickets, this one was a little disappointing. IT was as if he wanted to end the series, but not really....)
Artemis Fowl, The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer (The best of the series! Loved it!)
I'm just starting The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (Judi, I laughed my way through the whole "Walk in the Woods"!)
Karen

I love really beautifully thought out pattern designs that push the edge. It doesn't have to be a bear.  I look at the sculptural elements and if the character looks back at me. I tend to design realistic animals but I'm drawn to fantasy characters. Some artists create characters that just take me out of the world I'm in; I love that 
Karen

Heather,
Do you maintain your own website? If you do I'm sure you're familiar with uploading to your ftp. For your template all you have to do is create a page and call it your ebay template (I used one of my website pages, to keep it simple, and just replaced the images and text with my auction information). At first I just load the jpegs and text into my new auction page. When you're ready, upload your images to the ftp. When that's done you have to go back to your page html; change the jpeg images name to show their source i.e., instead of just the jpeg name you would add the source, where you've placed the image in your ftp -  http://www.your address/images/auction/jpeg name. Then you can just copy the whole page html and paste it into the ebay description box. This is with a MAC and the Adobe GoLive program but I know Dreamweaver is not that different.
Karen

Sorry for dropping out like that! I'm so busy lately it seems that I only have a few minutes here and there. I'm trying to take this early morning time to catch up 
Pricing, difficult subject!
I think a lot of the disagreement has to do with how a teddy bear artist views his/her work. I can only speak from my situation. I approach my cats as an art form. I also realize that if I want to continue my art, I have to be able to make enough money to survive. I truly believe that a price for a piece can not just be pulled out of the air. When I first started selling I carefully calculated my time, materials, overhead (I couldn't include profit at first). The cats were selling very well, but I quickly realized at my beginning prices, I would not be able to support myself. I thought of two directions that my business could take. I could simplify some of my designs and take them to a factory that could mass produce them, leaving me time to work on new designs. At first it seemed like a solution. I even went, as far as, attending a meeting a toy business friend set up for me with a few factory representatives. I asked them a lot of questions and found out that in reality they would just be using me as a filler when they had time and were waiting for their larger jobs. I could see monster headaches and expensive mistakes on the horizon    Then I thought; what if I went the other way. Really perfect my cats, throw myself fully into work, use all my experience and create something that I would view as some of my best creations. I knew that if this plan was going to work I'd have to approach it as the serious art I wanted it to be. First the work has to be there, but also the presentation has to be reflective of the work and the prices for that work. Not that I'm such a great artist, I'm trying to learn, I watched how other artist/fine craftsmen presented their work. I learned that your name has to be out there. As much as we'd like collectors to just love our work and flock to our tables, many collectors are very careful that an artist is solid; that is to say that the artist takes their work seriously, they are there for the long haul, and, hopefully, their pieces will appreciate in value over the years. This is the type of collector that I needed if I wanted to continue my life's work. I didn't see many serious artists selling  smaller or cheaper versions of their work at art shows and I wanted to approach my teddy bear shows as art shows. I did create some kittens which are less expensive than my large cats thinking it would give beginning collectors something to buy. It made no difference whatsoever; I think by that time I was finding collectors for my cats. When they came to my table they, usually, went for the most expensive pieces first. I'd actually sell out of the larger pieces and have kittens left over. Back to the beginning    This is why I look for the more expensive, event type shows. I know the collectors I am looking for will be at these shows.
Well, that's me. Again, teddy bear artists are individuals. We have all kinds of approaches to our work and lives. It's really fascinating.
P.S. My plan seems to be working. 2006 was my best year ever. I'm working REALLY hard but I'm also enjoying almost every minute of it 

I'm very sensitive to the trend in shows and selling in general. My sales are my sole income and I'm always watching changes. This year I'm concentrating on the larger and/or more exclusive, i.e. expensive shows. I noticed last year that shows were becoming much more difficult for both artists and collectors. Traveling (air travel) is becoming more difficult and expensive, as well as hotels etc. I believe a show has to be a really Special Event to bring collectors out. I think we have to think like our serious collectors; traveling to shows is a lot of work! Most collectors know how to communicate with their favorite artists for new pieces and some rely on galleries, as the Toy Shoppe, for their pieces.  My most expensive/special event shows have given me the most profit in 2006 (I must add that I go all out for these shows: notices to my collectors, entering show auctions, contests etc.) Any promoter willing to stage a really first-class event/show has my ear    And I believe these shows have the best chance in competing with the internet and other venues in the future.
Karen
P.S. As for pricing, I have another long opinion...!

I was just thinking about how this forum has helped so many of us. Especially, with this latest wonderful announcement of all the award nominees in this group! I belong to a number of other groups but none of these forums comes even near the quality of this forum; the ease of posting and depth of topics & features; the amazing ability for us to use jpegs with ease to illustrate and explain things; the stability of this forum.....it goes on and on
Quy  You Rock!!!

P.S. Thank you Intercal! Where would we be without you all!

Shelli,
You're an angel. I had the feeling that a mob was going to lynch me if the complete list didn't get out soon!! Please, everyone, notice that I told the truth!
Karen

Judi,
I don't get it either? Did Teddy Bear Review call you with the news? I know for sure that Shelli, Christine Pike, Lisa Rosenbaum, Unrau, Becky Wheeler, Griffin, Monroe, Bev White, Michelle Lamb & me have nominations! And I'm sure there are others that ran past me too fast to capture.
Karen

Yes, I was there and I saw it all!
Mindy waiting for, and running back and forth to open the room as the judges came to make their selections. The judging room was FAR.... from the main room. Mindy helping with the set-up of the booths for Teddy Bear and Friends and IDEX.  Mindy speaking with every teddy bear artist at the show. I was dead tired after the first day and Mindy had to get dressed-up and attend/MC the Awards dinner that evening. That's only the first day! It continued like that for the three days. She is amazing and she never loses her poise and charm. I know it sounds like I'm brown-nosing, but I'm so in awe of Mindy! Especially how she keeps her cool    I would be crazy!
Karen

I feel bad. I was at the IDEX annoucement of the Golden Teddy Awards; they read off the nominees very quickly and I only wrote down the few that I could capture! I only told the artists who I definitely knew were nominated but there are SO many more artists nominated. We'll hear soon!
Karen

Miniature Artist Bear-Dressed/Costumed
Edie Barlishen, "Will You Help Me Tie My Shoes?"
Charlotte Deadman, "My Cherie Amour"
Samantha Potter, "Jessica"
Natascha Sabo, "O Bear, Where Art Thou?"
Ingrid Schmid, "Priscilla Rose Preedy"

Miniature Artist Bear - Undressed
Edie Barlishen, "Naddy"
Berta Hesen-Minten, "Beauty and the Nerd"
Michelle Lamb. "Linus"
Christine Pike, "Robin"
Samantha Potter, "Moonbeam"

Small Artist Bear - Dressed/Costumed
Gudrun Didszilatis, "Nils Holgersson"
Tami Lahey, "Theo, A Fairy Doogle Bear"
Eun Sook Ma, "Cordelia"
Ingrid Schmid, "Alice Quigley"
Lora Soling, "Phillippe LeRoutier"

Small Atist Bear - Undressed
Ahn ByungHwa, "I Love You"
Terrie Kalaputas, "Snazzy"
Heather and Stacey Stanley, "Mushu"
Kumiko Nakano & Masaru Nakano, " Baby Panda Yum Yum"
Laraine White, "Niko"

Large Bear - Dressed/Costumed
Aleta Breese, "Princess Mirabell and Sophie"
Bonnie Foster, "Christina"
Michelle Lamb, "Black Bart"
Kerie Mouat, "Liberty"
Ingrid Schmid, "Ethel McQuinn"

Large Artist Bear - Undressed
Yvonne Andrew, "Merry"
Jenny Johnson, "Fernando Panda"
Aiko Kawamoto, "Bern"
Eu Sook Ma, "Victoria"
Jane Monroe, "Maemie and Her Dove"

Artist Vignette - Any Size
Edie Barlishen, "Mommy and Me"
Wanda Carson, "Pet Detective"
Maria Collin, "If You Go Down to the Woods"
Eun Sook Ma, "The Sun Rises"
Ingrid Schmid, "Portrait of Friends"

Artist "Friends" (Collectible Plush Animals)
Donna Butts, "Talley Who?"
Louise and Garnet Carrick, "Harley"
Karen Lyons, "Ace McPurr, Gambler"
Yuk Oae Park, "Motherhood"
Judi Paul, "Musa the African Lion"

Artist Bear - Nontraditional Materials
Marion Fraile, "Matilda"
Mikki Klug, "Best Friends"
Judi Paul, "Opie and Tom Thumb"
Kim Russell, "The Frog Prince"
Ingrid Schmid, "Pip & Teddy Hawkins"

That's it for Artists Congratulations to ALL!
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Mikki,
Just elegant!! Warms my spirit just to look at it.
Karen

  Terrie
CONGRATULATIONS!
And with the fur I couldn't figure out how to USE!
Karen

Mikki,
Congratulations  :bday:  on your TOBY nomination in the Artist Bear-Nontraditional Materials category! Couldn't happen to a nicer artist  :thumbsup:
Karen

OK, MY turn 
Shelli's Mr. Sandman was nominated for the Golden Teddy Bear Award! I just knew it would happen 
Karen

Maybe, I'm spilling-the-beans? But Christine, did you know you've been nominated in at least three different categories for the Golden Teddy Bear Awards?
Karen

I'm still exhausted, what a SHOW, and I'm in confused shock! So much happened at this show! But here's the guys.....
Nominees-
My avatar, The Phantom, was nominated for a Golden Teddy Award and sold for $1500 at the charity auction (I gave the winner my nomination ribbon)

I had a second Golden Teddy Award nominee- Vignette, no photos yet

AND a TOBY nomination for Ace McPurr, Gambler

I'll get back and tell more tales when I'm more rested. IF no one beats me to it I'll list the TOBY nominees. THere wasn't a list for the Golden Teddy Nominees but I made a short list of artists I know as they read off the nominees. I think they'll post them pretty quickly on the Teddy Bear Review website. One thing Mindy told me is that a lot of Canadians made it into the TOBY nominations this year.
Karen

Tracy
You're not far off! I've been to several TOBY and other award ceremonies and they can be very formal. Candlelight dinner, dressed to the nines and at the TED Awards there was a bank of photographers from all over the world taking out pictures. IT is very excitiing  :clap:  Even if you don't win it's worth going if you're nominated!
Maybe, your dream had something to it??
Karen

  Mindy,
We'll keep it a secret!! Don't stress out. Orlando is going to be fun even if you're working all out! So much is happening there! And, yes, I'm ready for the panel. (Of course I'm no where near ready for my table display )
Karen
P.S. Come-on the Lennon Sisters are going to be there, how can that not be fun