Competitive Investments

The deadline for the 2019 TOBY Industry's Choice Awards has now arrived and after a time away from competition work, I decided to stop umming and aahhing and actually enter this year. Not that I am terribly hopeful of success, as my experience of the TOBY Awards has been mixed over the years. That said, I did have the honour (not to mention shock!) of winning a couple of times with entries several years ago, so I guess you never can tell!

You could have knocked me down with a feather when I received notice that my big clown, 'Billy Buttons' had won a 2008 TOBY Industry's Choice Award... my very first TOBY Award!

And in 2011, I was absolutely thrilled to receive the TOBY Award again, this time for my careworn style 'Lonesome' teddy bear.

That said, it has been a good while since I last entered a competition after a disappointment with another competition, regarding an award I won three years ago. Sadly, despite contacting the organiser many times, my trophy was never sent and as competitions are costly and somewhat nerve-wracking to enter, I felt a little discarded after the initial joy of winning an award. As a result, I decided to take a step away from competing for a time.  Bear artists invest not only their hard earned pennies, but also fragile self belief, into submitting competition entries and to my mind, organisers should respect that investment.

So, why even enter artist bear competitions? 

Well, as I see it, teddy bear competitions are about so much more than who has made the 'best' bear that year. They are about promoting teddy bear artistry as an industry and validating those bearmakers who put heart and soul into their creations. They are also about inspiring creative talent in others, whilst sharing passion for the teddy bear, his heritage and also his future.

My 2019 TOBY Award entries (there are two) have now been submitted so there is nothing else to do but sit back and enjoy the suspense, while judging takes place. I dare say there will be a twinge of disappointment if at least one isn't placed this year, but if that's the case, it certainly won't be the first time and probably won't be the last either!

:-)

Perspective

The 2014 TOBY Industry's Choice Award winners have just been announced and I am looking forward to seeing the winning creations and sharing them on the Guild of Master Bearcrafters, but as far as my decision not to take part in the competition this year goes, I am completely content.  

'Perspective'

The ancient megalith at Kits Coty

With my 51st birthday only a couple of weeks away, I'd like to think I've now earned the right to put life into perspective, keep safe a little time to smell the roses and above all, focus on what really matters to me creatively and personally, rather than keep frantically pounding the great bear industry hamster wheel.

So, that means a big 'yes' to making new bears, a big 'yes' to continuing to write and a big fat 'NO!' to worrying about the small stuff - except perhaps my tax return, which I desperately need to make time to file before the 31st January deadline!!!!

TOBY or not TOBY, that is the question!

As the 2014 TOBY Industry Choice Award deadline loomed large at the end of last year, I found myself questioning whether I really wanted to enter and was quite surprised to hear my inner bear crafting competitor asking for a rest ...

So, I have decided to give myself leave to step back from this prestigious competition in 2014, rather than putting myself through my competition paces yet again. I must say, after almost twenty years of competitive peaks and troughs, allowing myself to become a bystander is a very welcome sensation!

I dare say I will be tempted to take part in one or two other competitions during the coming year, but for now I'm stepping down and looking forward to simply enjoying this competition from a distance.  

Good luck to everyone who is taking part this year!

Catching sunbeams ...

When I heard I'd won a TOBY Industry's Choice Award back in January of this year, I was absolutely delighted, particularly because it proved to me that my 2008 TOBY win wasn't a one-hit-wonder.  I knew it would take a while for the coveted crystal award to travel all the way from America and by mid March, was eagerly waiting for postie to knock on my door. 

But when it still hadn't arrived by mid April, I became concerned and emailed the organiser of the TOBY Awards.  Fortunately my precious shipment had been sent tracked and on checking, it transpired had been sat at the delivery depot here in the UK since early March, but the courier company had carelessly failed to let me know!  Not only had they attempted delivery and not bothered to leave a 'you were out when we called' card, but they also completely failed to notify me of a customs duty charge which apparently needed paying.

Needless to say, I was pretty grumpy about having to pay customs £22.61 for the pleasure of receiving my award (!) but not half as grumpy as I am about the inadequacy of Parcelforce's administrative system - presumably if I hadn't been able to hunt my parcel down, it would have soon been returned to sender, and sent back all the way across the Atlantic!

After gritting my teeth whilst parting with my credit card details, I waited a further 48 hours until finally my 2011 TOBY Industry's Choice Award was delivered to me ... 

TOBY Industry's Choice Awards 2008 & 2011

And at long last it is now sat safely with my 2008 Award, catching sunbeams through my workroom window.  I think you'll agree, despite all the palaver, it was well worth the wait!

A Double Scoop!

I can't quite believe my luck today, not only did 'Lonesome' win a prestigious 'TOBY Industry's Choice Award' earlier this year, I have just learned he has also been nominated for the coveted international 'Golden Teddy Award'! 

Wonders will never cease!

'Lonesome'

This is my very first Golden Teddy nomination, so rather a special honour as you can imagine.  After several unsuccessful previous attempts and almost not submitting an entry at all this year, I'm feeling both surprised and if I'm honest, ever so slightly tickled pink!

Your turn to vote in the 2011 TOBY Public's Choice Awards!

'Lonesome' is in category 3

Do you remember how thrilled I was when my bear 'Lonesome' won his TOBY Industry's Choice Award earlier this year?  Well, now the time has come for the Public's Choice element of the competition and that means YOU have the opportunity to vote for YOUR favourite bears in this prestigious competition! 

Please spare a moment to support these important awards by visiting the link below to choose your favourites ... thank you!

2011 TOBY PUBLIC'S CHOICE AWARDS

A flying start to 2011!!!!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!  I have just seen the list of winners for the 2011 TOBY Industry's Choice Awards and you could have knocked me down with a feather when I read my name on the list!!!!!!

Lonesome, a 2011 TOBY INDUSTRY'S CHOICE AWARD WINNER!

After much procrastination in the final weeks of November last year, I finally decided to participate and chose to enter one of my 'Careworn Collection' designs because this style of bear represented a new direction for me during 2010.  I also decided to try the 'small bear/undressed' category and hey presto, much to my surprise and delight 'Lonesome' has scooped a nomination!  

It's been such a difficult few months, so this recognition has really helped to give my spirits a boost and for that, I am very, very grateful.

Hey Dad, this one's for you x

Christmas is a-coming!

Following on from yesterday's post, I am happy to report after my efforts to update my website, two of my bears were adopted; little Rudi and Spruce were quickly snapped up and will be spending their Christmas in England, so as you can imagine, I couldn't be more delighted today!

Rudi - adopted

Spruce - adopted



I quite liked the tartan backdrop I used for the show, but I do think it was worth taking new photographs to showcase these bears a little more effectively ... let's hope the work I did yesterday helps Puddin' and Frankie to find special new homes in time for Christmas too!

Puddin'

Frankie

I came to the conclusion there is no point hiding from the fact Christmas is a-coming, so yesterday I took the bull by the horns and gave my website a festive makeover.  If you would like to take a peek, please pop along to www.allbear.co.uk  I have also opened 'Santa's Sack' on the website in preparation for my Christmas bears - hopefully these small steps will tempt a little festive cheer from this bearmaker!

This is the Christmas webpage graphic I created; it features 'Robin Red', a dear little traditional bear I made for Christmas 2009.  He lives in Singapore now ...

www.allbear.co.uk

I have also used 'Robin Red's' picture on my 2010 'All Bear' Christmas cards.  I received them from the printer's a couple of weeks ago and am very pleased with the result.

2010 Official All Bear Christmas Card

Overall, yesterday was a very busy day!  Besides setting up my studio for bear photographs and overhauling my website, I also made a Christmas bear mosaic for my home page, featuring some of my Christmas bears past and present ...

Festive All Bears past and present

Another task this week was to tackle my entry for the 2011 TOBY Industry's Choice Awards in time for the December deadline.  I didn't have any success in this competition in 2010, but as they say, you've got to be in it to win it!  So, I've put my 2011 entry together and will be nipping down to the Post Office to send it to the US later today - fingers crossed eh?!

2011 TOBY Industry's Choice entry

I can't pretend I feel entirely festive yet, but it is only November, so there's still hope for me!

A preview and a competitive ponder ...

I'm in the middle of my show work for Hugglets' Winter Bearfest' show in London at the end of the month and can at last share a few photos of my completed bears with you. There will be more to come over the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime, I updated my website this morning with these special show bears ... you may recognise them from some of the 'works in progress' photographs in my earlier posts!

20" Chilli

20" Cocoa

20" Honey

20" Misty - the extra ball of wool arrived yesterday, allowing me to finish her jacket last night!

I'm still muddling along with my manual camera settings, so I am not quite as content with these photographs as I would like to have been, but luckily for me Tina has offered a few more photographic pointers which should help improve my snaps and she has also promised to visit me and my bears the week before the show to take some professional photographs!

'Primrose and her Duckling'

My 2009 TOBY entry

Before I return to my sewing, I have a little disappointing news today: the TOBY 2009 Industry's Choice Award nominations have now been announced and sadly my entry wasn't on that hallowed list. One of the criteria for entries is "entries must must differ from previously issued designs, with substantial changes in size, materials, and/or costume" - a difficult challenge for any bear artist and one I tried my best to adhere to with 'Primrose and her Duckling' who couldn't possibly be construed as being anything like 'Billy Buttons' (my successful 2008 entry) in style.

23" Billy Buttons, my 2008 TOBY Award winner

It's always tough to know how best to approach competition work and as those of you 'Bearing All' regulars will know, I have agonised over this issue in the past. To sum up my feelings this year, naturally I'm a little disappointed at being overlooked for the 2009 TOBY Award because I am confident Primrose is a lovely, happy and above all, original design - definitely worthy of entering into this significant competition. So no, I'm not downcast today and I will of course take this year's result on the chin; in fact, I'll even go as far as offering my congratulations to the winners! I haven't seen those in my category yet, but I did have the pleasure of viewing several other worthy entries this morning, confirming that ours is a truly competitive and inspiring field! No, on reflection, I think I can safely say there's very little doubt I'll dust myself down in time to rise to the TOBY challenge again next year!

Looks like we made it!

Well, it looks like we made it! Here we are, the very last day of 2008. I wonder how you will spend your day? I'm not the retrospective type generally speaking, preferring instead to plan ahead. That said, a beary brief summary of 2008 wouldn't hurt anyone eh?

Planning ahead ...

Once again, the UK Hugglets Guide was a great key to reading many of the changes in the UK teddy bear world. If you think between the advertisements from one year to the next, it's fairly straightforward to draw conclusions about new bear artists entering the industry, established artists working hard to move things forward and bear artists who have opted for a complete change of direction. The guide is also a reasonably reliable indicator to which specialist shows are still going strong, which have fallen by the wayside, which shops are thriving, which have ceased trading in artist bears and so on. There have been many changes throughout 2008, but I believe some of that change has been long overdue and although it has challenged everyone involved in keeping the bear world alive, the upside is that challenge motivates wonderful creativity!

UK Teddy Bear Guide 2009

Despite the economic gloom and doom spouted on almost every news bulletin around the world over past months, I am pleased to report each and every All Bear created in 2008 quickly found a new owner and for that, I am extremely grateful to my collectors without whom I could not continue my chosen work. My bears have introduced me to some truly wonderful people in 2008 and I have loved the contact with both new friends and old!

2008 TOBY Industry's Choice Award (right)

On a creative level, I am confident the work I am now achieving is of my best and my 2008 TOBY Industry's Choice Award, has certainly endorsed all that I continually strive for; a fabulous accolade and one I shall always treasure. I am already in the throes of planning new designs for 2009 and after my Christmas break, feel fired up and raring to get back into my workroom. My first show of 2009 will be the Hugglets' 'Winter Bearfest' in Kensington; this is always my favourite show of any new year because everyone is bursting with such creativity at the start of the New Year!

Winter Bearfest 2009

In my ongoing quest for inspirational events at which to offer my bears to collectors in person, I exhibited at several specialist shows last year and for these opportunities, I would like to thank the organisers for their dedication to the promotion of our most special teddy bears. I am looking forward to taking part in the ever popular Hugglets' shows in 2009, but have decided not to rebook the 'Teddy Bear Artist Event' at Stratford Upon Avon, because, despite the wonderful attention to detail and innovative displays, on a practical level it really is too far for me to travel. The online shows I have participated in have been full of fun and I would like to extend these events next year, perhaps to include one or two online gallery shows of my own ... I know how much you all enjoyed 'Santa's Sack' and that has set me thinking! I also have a collaborative venture in the pipeline, but for now, that's top secret - I'll let you know when it comes together; suffice it to say, this has the potential to be a very exciting project!

Hugglets 'Teddies 2008' show in Kensington, London

2008 saw the sad demise of my favourite UK teddy bear mag, the 'Teddy Bear Scene' and so I am praying that editorial publishing opportunities for teddy bear artists and bear related businesses continue to be well supported throughout 2009. I have secured several advertising opportunities for All Bear with magazines in both Australia and America and will continue to keep my eyes and ears alert for further invitations, in an effort to help promote the artist teddy bear world and of course, to continue to share my All Bears with as international a market as possible! I really do believe it is vitally important for everyone involved to play an active part in keeping our bear industry vibrant by taking a global view - talking about, thinking about and of course acting to expand horizons wherever appropriate. In my view, this is the only way to ensure the industry's evolution and secure its future for generations to come.

All Bear advertisement for Teddy Bear and Friends magazine
January 2009 issue

And on that note, I am delighted to report the success of the British Bears on the Net forum -what a project that has been! UK bear artists are at last reaping the benefits of an online central resource established to provide information, support and friendship. Learning how to build the forum was a challenge, but one I enjoyed and I am so pleased the BBN membership is now finding the forum useful. Long may it continue!

British Bears on the Net forum

So what will 2009 bring? The New Year is always a good time for review, so I will shortly be thinking through my plans for 2009 in an effort to recognise what worked well for All Bear in 2008 and what did not. These thoughts will encompass all aspects of running my little business, from how I cope with admin and financial planning, through to the design of my bears and where I would like to take that design process next; marketing/promotional opportunities will naturally come to the fore and alongside editorial coverage, website maintenance, blog development, show planning and so forth. This review will also encompass my competitive work, because I believe the major international competitions offer a terrific focus for the teddy bear as art and wherever possible, should be supported by serious bear artists.

TOBY Industry's Choice Awards

All in all, I can honestly say I am content with the way 2008 panned out for All Bear and I am looking forward to the challenges of 2009. In the meantime though, it's time for me to thank you all for sharing the ramblings of this bear maker's blog throughout 2008 and to wish you all,

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Competitive conclusions

It will soon be time to consider whether or not to scrape together the courage and commitment to present my entries to the international teddy bear design competitions for 2009. As ever, my views on the subject are mixed to the point of confusion and all I will say on the subject is 2008 brought me both extreme highs and a couple of confusing lows. Nothing however, can impinge upon my personal sense of achievement at being honoured with a 2008 TOBY Industry's Choice Award, which in my view is the ultimate international competition professionally judged by those 'in the teddy bear know'. I still feel a thrill every time I see the sun shining through that beautiful crystal award on my workroom window sill!

23" Billy Buttons WINNER 2008 TOBY Industrys' Choice Award and also 2008 'READERS CHOICE AWARDS' FINALIST

I think I will reconsider my competition entries next year, withdrawing from those whose voting procedures baffle me and instead working towards those I consider a professional representation of true teddy bear artistry.

23" Raffles 2008 URSA AWARDS finalist

So, now I have my thoughts on this subject a little more shipshape, I am going to take the bull by the horns and share my existing competition entries past and present; including of course, my dear old hopefuls who didn't quite make it to the finals. As you will see, there can be plenty of ups and downs when it comes to participating in the competitive side of the bear world!

20" 'Victor' originally created at the kind invitation of Teddy Bear Scene magazine to represent the United Kingdom in their '2008 Olympic Challenge'. Sadly the magazine ceased publication before the competition could be published and Victor was asked instead to participate in the Taiwan Teddy Bear Association's Olympic Challenge. He was also featured in the US Teddy Bear and Friends magazine.

22" 'Gorgeous George' was my 2008 hopeful in the international GOLDEN TEDDY AWARDS, sadly he failed to be nominated. GG also failed to achieve nomination in the 2008 URSA Awards, leaving me to wonder whether traditional bears are suited to competition work? Whatever the case, George remains to this day, one of my most favourite bears.

14" 'Florrie' - I rarely put forward smaller bears, so thought I would give little Florrie her chance in the 2008 URSA Awards, but she wasn't nominated.

20" 'Sunny Jim' was entered into the 2006 GOLDEN TEDDY Awards but failed to receive a nomination, despite being a very golden teddy bear!

20" Bisto was my 2007 hopeful for the GOLDEN TEDDY Awards, but guess what? He failed to receive a nomination too!

20" 'Crocus' was my first ever entry into the URSA Awards in 2007, but to no avail - she didn't manage a nomination.

32" 'Himself', my 1998 BRITISH BEAR ARTIST AWARD WINNER!

26" 'My Indulgence', 2000 BRITISH BEAR ARTIST AWARDS FINALIST

20" 'The Lynx Effect', 2003 BRITISH BEAR ARTIST AWARDS FINALIST

24" 'PaZaZZ', won SECOND PLACE in the 1999 BRITISH BEAR ARTIST AWARDS

24" 'Bon-Bon, won SECOND PLACE in the 1997 BRITISH BEAR ARTISTS AWARDS - my first ever teddy bear award winner!

If you would like to read my other posts about teddy bear competitions,
please click this link:
http://allbear.blogspot.com/search/label/Teddy%20Bear%20competition

Learning curves

It was a Bank Holiday here in the UK, which basically means we have an extra weekend day, so no work if you're one of the lucky ones who can indulge! With the Hugglets' show drawing close, I couldn't risk taking an entire day's holiday with the rest of the great British public, so instead nipped into my workroom from time to time to finish my 'Cornelius' show bear, between family visits. He's a lovely mix of antique mohair, complemented with modern mohair head and paws. Working with the antique mohair is an education in itself and I must admit, it can get a bit scarey at times! Each bear teaches me a little more about working with such old fabric and this beautiful burnt orange and wine coloured antique mohair even seems to have lent Cornelius his venerable expression!

20" Cornelius will debut at Teddies 2008, on September 14th!

I was honoured indeed yesterday with a visit from my niece. She came to show me her latest purchase ... no, not shoes, handbags or jewellery, oh no! For the very first time ever, my seventeen year old niece drove across town to my house in her very first car, complete with 'L' (learner) plate on the bonnet and a slightly nervous mum strapped safely into the back seat. This extremely proud auntie had camera poised and at the ready, before said young miss zoomed back off down the road and out into the big wide world. Here's to your independence Lauren, stay safe Tin Ribs xxx

Hey, Lauren's on her way!

For those of you wondering whether the 'TOBY Public Choice Awards' have been announced, I can now tell you they have! As you know, my 'Billy Buttons' clown bear won his prestigious 'TOBY Industry's Choice Award' this year, such a proud moment for me. I am happy to tell you the Public Choice Award for the 'Big Bears Undressed category has been awarded to lovely Ellen Borggreve from the Netherlands, for her super bear 'Marbles' ... my warmest congratulations to you Ellen!

You can read Ellen's personal account of her success and take a peek at her lovely bear 'Marbles,' at: http://ellen-borggreve-design.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/i-won.html

And on the subject of competitions, after failing to make the first ten of the 'Taiwan Teddy Bear Association's Olympic Challenge' with my 'Victor' bear, together with several other excellent entries by talented bear artists, I have reached the conclusion I probably won't compete in such heavily themed competitions in future. Congratulations to those participating countries who were placed in the 'Olympic Challenge' top ten and well done to the team for raising funds for their chosen Moon Bear charity. No, this isn't a case of sour grapes by the way! I simply don't think themed competitions suit my style of work and I would rather focus my efforts where I feel the quality of my bears isn't likely to be undermined by a theme, because for me the true test of an artist bear has to be first and foremost, the bear itself, rather than any contrived theme. I guess that makes me somewhat of a purist eh? Well, I make no apologies for that. My instincts warned me of this potential pitfall before the 'Taiwan Teddy Bear Association Olympic Challenge' team invited me to participate and I now know I should have stayed true to that little voice in my head ... isn't hindsight a wonderful thing?!

Victor, my Olympic Challenge bear

I was originally asked to create 'Victor' by the UK's 'Teddy Bear Scene' magazine , and when the magazine ceased publication without notice recently (sadly before they could publish their 'Olympic Challenge') the 'Taiwan Teddy Bear Association' kindly stepped in to create their own online version of the competition to raise funds for the Moon Bear charity and I was asked to submit my bear to their competition, as mentioned above. At the same time, I was also asked by the editor of US 'Teddy Bear and Friends' magazine if she could publish 'Victor's' picture, alongside the original 'Teddy Bear Scene' magazine's invited 'Olympic Challenge' bears, so if you would like to, you can now see the original invited Olympic Challenge bears proudly featured in this Sept/Oct issue of 'Teddy Bear and Friends' magazine. Here is a link to the magazine's website: www.teddybearandfriends.com

I am, of course, still committed to participating in competitions offering teddy bear artists an opportunity to promote bear craft as a highly aspirational art form. So, now that I have a clearer head on the subject, I will look forward to entering a couple of carefully selected aspirational competitions next year ... thinking cap on Paula!

Pride of Place

It came! I've been waiting anxiously for my TOBY Award to arrive since I received notification of winning it in January and at last, I can share it with you! It's very pretty, cut to catch rainbows, so I shall keep it proudly on my workroom window sill, where it can sparkle rainbows and inspire me every day!

British Bear Artist Award 1998 and
TOBY Industry's Choice Award 2008

The other award in the picture also lives on my workroom window sill. It might be ten years since it was awarded to me, but it is still very precious and I am extremely proud of it. Back in 1998 I entered the 'British Bear Artist Awards' with a 32" (yes, I did say 32 inches!) bear called 'Himself' and I was completely shocked, overwhelmed and totally thrilled to win first place in the 'Big Bears' category, competing against some immensely talented, most esteemable bear artists.

My 'BBAA' was a huge honour for me because I had only been making bears for a few years at the time and never for one moment dreamed I would stand a chance of winning what was then, the UK's most prestigious national teddy bear art award. It just goes to show, anything is possible if you truly put your heart and soul into it.

'Himself' 1998 'BRITISH BEAR ARTIST AWARD winner!

Today, I have been planning my competition schedule for 2008. This year I am feeling very positive and encouraged by the achievements reflected through my rainbow trophies, so I am going to take part in several competitions, not necessarily with a view to collecting more trophies, although wouldn't that be lovely (!) but more with a view to participating enthusiastically, shoulder to shoulder with those bear artists who like me, believe competitions help keep our bear world vibrant and inspirational.