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Canna Bear PaintWe're back from the Binghamton show, and I wish you'd all been there! Also sorry to say I had no camera with me, but maybe somebody else from here did? The gallery display was unbelievably good, I've never had the chance to see such amazing works of art all together and up close before. The pictures on the TBAI web site don't do them justice, up close some of them are so much bigger (or smaller and more intricate!) than you could imagine from the photos. Francisco Carreno Stewart's amazing Romeo and Juliet got 1st place in the People's Choice awards for the over 8" pieces (1st place had one award for over 8" and one for under 8"). Dolores Austin's Winnie the Pooh shadowbox got 1st for the under 8" pieces, and it was just exquisite. I had the chance to sit with Dolores at the banquet, and our table was near her's, you would not believe the work she did on that piece. She needlefelted all of the characters and did teeny tiny little accessories all by hand, flowers in the scene were done one petal at a time! Every time you walked past her shadowbox, you saw something different, it was just that intricate. Anyway, onwards...
Oh, Laure! The Laure from this group IS the Laure I'm thinking of, right? It was you that got 2nd place in the People's Choice awards for the BIGGEST most amazing rabbit I've ever seen, Ungle Wiggily? I think that it was, major congratulations on an amazing work of art and an award that was much deserved!!!
Rounding things out, I think that 3rd place went to Mariann Wills' The Yearling, which looked even better in person that the photo shows. I don't know how people chose winners out of the gallery, I cast a ballot too and was stumped with who to choose. I wanted to be able to tie 5 or 10 or 15 pieces for first, but there was no room on the ballot 
Shelli, Willy Wonka was there in the thick of things looking very handsome, with his eyes sparkling in the lighting. I saw one lady in the crowd weaving and dodging in front of him, I think she was trying to see his eyes from every angle! She may have been the one who bought him, because right after that I saw he was marked sold. Janet, Alice in Wonderland was every bit a sweetheart! Wish I could have told you that in person!
I managed to not be able to meet anybody from the board at this show, I barely ever got more than 20' from my table and wound up in a lot of lengthy conversations over there. Very nice people at this show, collectors and artists alike. Wish I had been able to meet Laure and Janet in person, guess we should have tried to arrange something in advance!
I know there were a lot of people in the bear world waiting to see how attendance and sales were at this year's TBAI, given the slump a lot of other shows have been seeing. This was my first year at this show, so personally I wouldn't know what it was usually like, but the talk was that attendance was down. There were some VERY quiet stretches of time on public sales day. Of the collectors that stopped and chatted with us, almost every one of them mentioned on their own how tight their budget was. I sat next to a collector at the banquet that had 2,000 bears at home (can you imagine that many? I can't!). She said she really had no budget to spend on bears this year. We were on the back row of sales tables, and had several people really admire something on our table and then say something along the lines of 'too bad I don't have any money left!'. I think overall most people did OK. We did fine, we cleared our costs to get there (always a top priority), but overall our sales were about 1/3 what we did at the spring Schaumburg show. I only saw about 3 tables out of 50+ artists that looked like they'd really sold a lot of bears by the end of the show, and I think they all did smaller or mini bears. But I don't want to sound pessimistic, because it really was an amazing show! Everyone was upbeat and wonderful to deal with, we had just an amazing time and felt very privileged to be involved. I certainly hope we will be lucky enough to be able to return next year, we'll just have to cross our fingers and work hard to get there.
I also wanted to mention that from a networking perspective, I think this show may be second to none, we really had the opportunity to meet world class artists and dedicated collectors alike. This was also the first time my mother and I saw a level of name recognition for our business. We got a lot of 'I saw your bear in the Golden Teddies!' and 'Didn't you do the Sleepy Hollow gallery piece?' comments. That was a very big deal to us, as newer artists it can be such a struggle to get people to the point where they say 'OK, I know who you are!'. Anyway, I could go on forever, it really was an exciting event. "And a good time was had by all."
Bear hugs,
Kelly
Past Time BearsWONDERFUL report, Kelly!!! Thanks SO much! Big congrats to Laure for her second place . . . that is waaaaay cool!! 
I'm a little anxious about the San Diego show coming up this weekend. It's already smaller than previous ones, so I'm hoping for a miracle. We're leaving bright and early in the am and won't be back until Aug. 18th 'cause we'll be visitin relatives as well as attending the show. Now you posters know the drill . . . no posting anything until I get back . . . I don't want to miss anything!! 
I will miss all of you SOOOOO much, but hopefully I'll have a successful report. I know it will be fun because I will be seeing some of you in person . . . yea!!!!!
Wow, what a wonderful report, as Sue Ann said; I feel like I was right there. I'm very glad to hear my piece sold; it goes to a wonderful cause. And congratulations to Laure on what sounds like a wonderful show! I really wish I could have been there...
Congratulations to you, too, Kelly, on what sounds like a wonderful, positive, business-growing time for you and your mom. I'm glad you had fun and the opportunity to scope out so much inspiring and creative work. I'm envious!
Delartful BearsI am also very envious. Thankyou Kelly for the wonderful report. Sounds like there were some amazing artists there.
Danni
Kelly thank you for the wonderful report! I'm sorry you didn't sell more bears ...:/ but glad you enjoyed the experience!
Thanks very much for a wonderful report of the Binghamton show Kelly.
How neat that you were able to attend and thanks for sharing with us.
Sue Ann I wish you the very best for your Bear show - hope that you sell a lot of Bears
and have a great time.
We will see you when you get back.
Bear hugs
Carolyn
:)
Sorry I forgot to congratulate all those who won awards for their wonderful Bears-
well done Laure! and to all who excelled and were lucky to be at the show.
Just Us BearsKelly,
Thanks fo taking the time to write that great report! I really enjoyed reading it all.
A huge congratulations to Laure...sounds like all your willpower staying away from TT was worthwhile huh Laure? Hope you'll be back chatting with us all soon!
Baird'sBearsFantastic Report, Kelly! Thanks! :D
I can't wait to see Laure's entry. I grew up on Uncle Wiggley. I adore that dear old lagomorph!!!
Eileen
Hello, I am going to post my thoughts on TBAI this year but Kelly gave an excellent report already. SO I will just add a few things from my perceptive from attending for the fourth time. TBAI is and still is a first class event and the most friendly, warm atmosphere of any show I have ever participated in. The gallery this year was the best yet! Every piece was outstanding and it seemed like more pieces than usual sold right away including my Alice. Yes the public atendance for the show on Sat was way down from past years but the collectors present were buying bears so most aritsts had sales. I really had a great time and definitly plan to keep going back as they are planning with the help of a commitee to keep it going.
An added plus for me is that I have family there and make it a big trip. My sister lives in Dowingtown, PA and my mother close by. Also, my youngest son lives in NYC and takes the train down to my sisters to see me while there. This year was a downer as my mother was in the hospital in deep depression so it was not fun visiting her and I am feeling rather down from that experiece overshadowing the TBAI time.
Janet
Aw, sorry to hear about that last part, Janet... but congratulations on your ALICE sale and an otherwise good experience. Thanks for sharing a bit... and it's good to have you back.
