Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store

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lulubears Jan 1, 2007

Happy Holidays to everyone on the list! I wanted to share how my year ended and my hopes for 2007. In late October, I was approached by a group of artists to join them in a booth they share at a long-established art show. I was a bit apprehensive, as this would be a HUGE undertaking for me. This would be the 30th year for the show, and it is very nearly impossible to get in, and some of the same artists have been participating in the show for 15-20 years. This is a 16 day show, that runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, up to and including Christmas Eve. The shifts to work would be split between 4 of us, so that meant very little time off, if any, for all of us. (The other artists are not bear-makers. One is a painter, one does calligraphy type work and the other does mosaic work.)

Anyway...I decided to go for it, plotted out what pieces I wanted to try to get finished, and started cutting, sewing, stuffing, etc. I started out by initially taking 10 pieces and by the end, had 30 new bears and animal friends at the show. I came home with only 6 pieces, meaning I had sold 24 over the course of the show!

I worked on new pieces that I had been wanting to try, including a travelling mouse, my foxes, an elephant and a flamingo. I also finished up an open mouth cat with feathers in it's mouth and a bird on it's head. All of them sold, and my confidence level is at an all-time high!

This entire venture has made me realize that there are plenty of collectors out there and they are still buying. Every piece I took was new and in some cases, very different. From my vantage point, it appears that if we are willing to step out of our comfort zones and go with our new ideas, the end results may very well be worth it. I'm looking forward to honing my airbrushing skills (thanks to the class I took from Judi) and have signed up for two more classes that I hope will push me to try other things.

I hope the new year brings all of us the opportunityand courage to step forward and try all those things we've been wanting to, but haven't done so.

Hugs,
Luann