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What do you do when you get an idea for a bear or friend and you go to do some research on the idea... (research: how old costumes look, techniques for quilts, etc.)...
and instead of finding simple inspirations, you find a bear almost exactly like you want to make? grrrrr...
I know most ideas are not "new", but COME ON!! Someone has been looking in my head!!!! 
hehee...
no, really... I don't want to step on anyones toes, but do you go ahead with your orignial idea? Knowing that the outcome will probably look NOTHING like the bear you've come across?? Or do you shelf it? Do you contact the bear artist, explain the situation and HOPE they aren't offended or think you are trying to steal their idea??
Oh help... I really want to make a certain idea come to life.
Back Road BearsAnn,
That's a tough one. As more and more people take up bear-making, original ideas become fewer and fewer.
How you execute a particular costume, theme, etc. will likely look quite different in the end from others you've seen. And likely your bear's face/personality/appearance is different too.
So many artists have done bear fairies, victorian costumed bears, bears in tuxes, bears protraying various movie characters (I've seen at least 4 versions of Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Carribean in furry bear form!) etc. and I haven't heard of any complaints of copying, etc. That doesn't mean the complainig doesn't happen. I've seen people get upset over someone putting bear ears in the same place as someone else. Um..... ears can only go just so many places on a bear's head!
Having the same or similar idea as someone else in this great big, populated world can't be helped. But it doesn't mean you are copying, stealing ideas or any of that. It just means more than one person can have a brilliant (or not so brilliant) idea!
The only time I've 'shelfed' an idea is when an artist I know well who travels the same circles (TT, shows, etc.) as I do presented her bear to the world first..... it was SOOO similar to what I was working on it was scary! I didn't want to be seen as copying but I also didn't want to take the lime-light away from her new design. I didn't shelf the idea forever though! 
Good luck with whatever you decide to do! :hug:
Thank you so much Daphne!! Your opinion means alot.
Just to clarify, the idea isn't an EXACT copy of what I was thinking, though in my exaggrated posted I did say it was... 
There are major differences, but the "feel" of the end product of the other artist is what I would like to achieve. If that made any sense... 
Totally Different, but totally the Same! hehe...
I do, however feel that since my style is so different from theirs, that if I had went ahead and made mine without mentioning it... no one would probably see the connection that I do in my head. But as soon as I did, with my luck, I would have stepped on some toes!!
I'm sorta leaning towards going ahead with the idea and seeing how the end results looks like. I would love to read more opinions on this!
FenBeary FolkI am so with you on this one, it is happening to me so often now 
AND names, geeeee I have lost count of names I have thought of and the next thing you know, someone has plucked it straight from my head :crackup: :crackup:
Past Time BearsGo for it, Ann! I'm 100% sure your representation of this idea will look totally different from the one you saw. Each of our personalities influences what our creations look like in the final product . . . and no doubt your personality is different from anyone else's - just as mine is, Daphne's is, Shelli's is, Aleta's is, Paula's is, etc. So, at least make a prototype and then decide whether it is different enough.
Thanks Sue Ann! You are right, we are all different!! I shouldn't second guess myself and I'm off to sketch out that bear I wanted to do.
Thanks Sue for a laugh!! You are right on the money!! I can't tell you how many times I've named a bear, came here first before putting it up for auction, and finding another bear with the same name!! I've given up naming them and have given that job over to my girls!
Strange BearsWhen I owned my shop "The Teddy Bear Hug" in Australia and represented over 100 bear artists I lost count of the number of times I would talk to an artists and they would tell of the "great new idea" they had.......and then the bear would arrive and be so similar to another I had just got in. I remember one case clearly when 2 top artist told me this, both in total opposite states, they arrived in the same post, same fur, same style and same idea..........they could have been twins almost. I was horrified, I thought they may have thought I talked to the other one. So I phoned both instantly, luckily they were friends and they phoned each other and one agreed to take her bear back and rework the idea slightly rather than compete.
It does happen and we just have to work around it and accept that there is very little in this world that is brand new..........hey even velcro isn't new it's a rip-off of an idea from nature...........so go with the flow and what inspires you........and have fun doing it.
Matilda Huggington-beareAnn, I feel for you possum. It happens to us all. I have opened magazines and seen the exact style bear I was working on myself. I always shelve the idea and/or rework it. If I don't want to rework then I use them for gifts.
Making my Puddles though leaves me with more scope. Stop worrying about others and just go for it. Put your own spin to an idea. Thats where the real originality comes into play. 'Your own spin' The less you worry about others the more creative you can be. Most of the time the' look- alike bear' is only a small step on the way to the final concept. It's inspiration for artist growth. 
Wendy
The beauty of artist bears is that each artist's individual identity shines from them. I believe (and think I proved with my 'a-head of design' challenge .. see gallery! We all had exactly the same head pattern) that even with a shared pattern, no two artists' work is ever completely the same. I don't think one of my bears could be the same as someone else's, even if we both worked from identical materials, that's the beauty of bear art.
Already this year I have published two bears and then received emails from other artists telling me they were worried I might think they were copying, because they had been working on a similar wavelength but hadn't yet published their designs.
I think the key is firstly, to have confidence if you are genuinely working through your own ideas and hang on to your integrity at all costs. Secondly, develop your style so that your work is utterly recognisable and unmistakably identifiable as your own ... to achieve that level of profile, you will also have to work extremely hard at promoting your designs, so get that camera snapping and let everyone know exactly who you are and what your work is all about - mags, shows, competitions, websites, forums - they are all an essential part of that development.
I also think writing a blog regularly is a terrific way to share your thought processes and share the evolution of your designs with collectors. I use my blog to work through inspirations and if you follow it regularly, or read back through it, it's often very clear where the inception of my designs begin. I think it's a great way of helping readers to appreciate just how much thought goes into the creative process, before so much as a piece of mohair is cut and that way, they are given the opportunity to understand exactly what unique bear art is all about.
Waggle BearsPaula, I love reading your blog. You do share so much of your work on your blog and I do appreciate seeing your works in progress.
Thank you Marlys! It's so nice to hear the blog is well received .. I really enjoy putting it together. I have a little gadget on it that tells me which country folks are visiting from and I've been amazed to find visitors from so many different places - I even had visits from India and Malaysia yesterday! Running a blog is a really good way to introduce teddy bear art to the world.
DoodlebearsAt the last Hugglets show I visited Paula on my photographing trail. There on her stand was a bear so much like the one I had not managed to finish for the show. I spoke to Paula about this bear and really the only difference was the facial features and some antique buttons sewn on the bear, the bears were of the same colours, laid out the same way and, well you could have thought we'd had the same pattern. I have still not finished this bear as Paula's bear was so recognisable that my bear turning up would look like a copy.
Hugs, Jane. 
Thank you all for such great suggestions!! I'm glad everyone is posting on this topic.
I have decided to go ahead with the bear. I guess I was fretting over nothing. I should have just gone with my heart from the beginning!
Happy Little SoulsAnn,
I was just reading everyone's posts and they all ring true, I just had another thought, years ago before we all took up this technology so easily and had the web and this great forum, you could easily be working on one concept only to have it turn up in another state or country- I witnessed it year after year at our shows! The only difference between then and now was that unless it was published in a magazine (which very few of the thousands being created were) generally you had no idea and could merrily work away in blissful ignorance.
These days (although not all artists) many artists have taken up and run with this great new technology and nearly every piece that comes to life is in digital colour for all to see a few hours after it has been completed, on the web and in people's homes. It is awesome for collectors and enthusiasts, not so much for artists, like Daphne said ...
Um..... ears can only go just so many places on a bear's head!
... so I guess it helps to have blinkers on to a certain degree.
I for one would be sad if no one created anything in case they trod on someone's toes. Like Paula said earlier though
The beauty of artist bears is that each artist's individual identity shines from them. I believe (and think I proved with my 'a-head of design' challenge .. see gallery! We all had exactly the same head pattern) that even with a shared pattern, no two artists' work is ever completely the same. I don't think one of my bears could be the same as someone else's, even if we both worked from identical materials, that's the beauty of bear art.
Mel
