Introducing myself to new collectors:
I have been a Teddy Bear Artist since 1988. That's 18 years! My collectors have been telling me for several years that I should offer my bears on eBay but with a consistent 1 to 3 year waiting list I never had any available bears...until now! Now that my current waiting list is only a few months long I plan on offering my one-of-a kind bears on eBay, hopefully on a regular basis.
About my acknowledgements as an artist:
I have never had to travel outside of Southern California to do a show because through word of mouth and publications my bears have managed to find a world wide audience. I am grateful to both TEDDY BEAR REVIEW and TEDDY BEAR AND FRIENDS magazines because they have both been supporters of my work for the past seventeen years. I was always surprised and delighted when I opened an issue and found a photo of one of my teddies. My bears would consistently make their appearances one or more times each year. My bears also made regular appearances in TEDDY TODAY, a wonderful little teddy bear magazine. I was also thrilled to have my bears included in two amazing books: TRIBUTE TO TEDDY BEAR ARTISTS, SERIES 2 by Linda Mullins and THE WORLD'S MOST LOVABLE BEARS by Stephen Cronk.
One of my bears was honored with a GOLDEN TEDDY AWARD the first time I competed in 1989. Two or three years later another of my bears also received a nomination but after that I no longer had time to enter my bears in competitions because my waiting list became too long (plus I was a home schooling mom).
About my professional background in art:
I have an art degree and I worked in art related fields before I started freelancing. I love learning and I am always either taking a class or self-teaching myself different medias, such as: drawing, painting, jewelry design, wearable art, sculpture or whatever catches my fancy at the time. But regardless of the class I am taking it always reflects in my bears. For example, you can tell that I have recently taken a jewelry class if you go to my website and look at my necklace bear ( a hand-dye miniature mink bear with a handmade heart on a ribbon necklace). I am so proud of this new creation! And my collectors apparently love it too since it sold out at the first show where I offered them.
For me, art is not what I do but it is my "way of life". It seems many of my experiences somehow get translated into an "artistic expression" (mostly in the form of a tiny teddy).
About my bears:
My vintage mink teddy bears are small and miniature in size. They are one-of-a-kind artist bears with finely defined puffy cheeked sweet faces. My little teddies have become well known for their high quality and I continue to strive to maintain my hard-earned reputation. I never release any of my bears for adoption until they let me know that they are the very best that they can be.
I am a self-taught teddy bear artist. Through trial and error I developed my own unique style. My niche has become small bears created from vintage mink collars, stoles, and coats. (By the way, I'm a vegetarian.) My miniature mink bears are a true source of accomplishment for me. I challenged myself for several years to make a mink bear as small as possible. I experienced a lot of frustration before I felt that I could offer my miniatures for adoption. Creating one of my miniatures is a time-consuming and precise method of scissor sculpting the entire bear but I will always strive to consistently "push the envelope" in my bear creations.
Each of my bears is a one-of-a-kind. I may repeat a popular pattern but I will always make enough changes to ensure that each bear is unique.
Features of my bears:
- Hand sewn entirely by me
- Lined for extra strength
- 5 way jointed (sometimes with a double-jointed neck)
- Cotter pin jointed
- Packed with Poly-Fil, pellets, and a few BB's
- Hand blown German glass eyes
- Ultrasuede pads
- A one-of-a-kind handmade polymer clay heart
- An ear tag or a tush tag
- A removeable hang tag
- A signed and dated Certificate of Authenticity (with Care instructions)
- Individually hand signed
My personal background
My father was born in the dawn of the twentieth century on an island of dreamers. With all of the optimism of a young man, he journeyed to a new land in search of his destiny. He wandered this land until he discovered a courageous young woman who was to become the love of his life. They settled in the Land of Possibilities to raise their family. The playful sprites that blessed their union reserved a dusting of joyous imagination for their offspring. I was lucky enough to be their second born. The visions of fanciful creatures were always dancing in my head until many of them began to flow through my fingers...after manipulating bits of fur, thread, and stuffing...these creatures that once lived only in my imagination become a reality.
Artist Statement
For nearly two decades my creations have usually taken the form of precious sweet-faced little teddy bears. Over the years my bears continued to shrink to smaller and smaller stature until they are currently small enough to be the keepers of colorful hearts and baby dragons...and who knows what else. It is the ultimate mission of my teddy bears to be creatures of comfort and joy in the lives of all those who welcome them into their homes.
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