Twists, turns and teddy bear artistry

Time is a funny old thing isn't it ... I was hunting through some old photographs for pictures of my biggest bears and came across this one taken about twenty years ago, with my huge 32" 'Miguel the Magnificent' alpaca teddy. We were perched on the steps outside my kitchen window while my then husband, snapped a quick photo to record the creation of this huge teddy bear, before he took a flight to meet his new owner in the USA.

Me and Miguel the Magnificent circa 1998.

So much in my life changed since those days. After this happy pic was taken, I became divorced, a single mum and eventually, left my home of twenty three years, to begin a new life with my now husband and two teenage children. Then my kids grew up and made careers for themselves, left home to build their own nests ... and joy of joys, my grandson was born!

Just before my son left home my Dad passed away unexpectedly, which took a great deal of coming to terms with, as I rattled in an empty house each day. I filled the silence with waggy tails, noisy barks and golden sunshine thanks to Polly and Betty, my two beautiful golden retrievers and more recently, added a cheeky ginger kitten into this rather lively mix - one thing is absolutely certain, the house is no longer too quiet and I have no time left to rattle any more!

Thinking about things further, it wasn't until after the photograph with Miguel was taken, I finally plucked up sufficient determination to learn to drive, passing my test on the second attempt, at the grand old age of 42! I also taught myself to use a computer properly, learned among a zillion other things, to create a website to showcase my bears, write a blog and to utilise social media effectively. I also joined the Open University to develop my writing skills, then surprised myself by passing well!  And when a very boisterous Polly puppy arrived, I nervously signed up for dog obedience training classes and once again surprised myself by actually managing to teach not one, but two naughty puppies to become polite doggy citizens. I learned how to use a digital camera to photograph bears, to make cloth dollies and recently, to paint and draw. 

Me and Lonnie, February 2018

Since the early 1990's, I have witnessed the ebb and flow of teddy bear collecting and watched it reshape dramatically with the birth of the internet ... it has been a fascinating period of historic teddy bear change, both in terms of design and collecting ... and one in which I have enjoyed a privileged view! 

On a personal note, although my life has been full of ups and downs, twists and turns throughout those twenty something years, thankfully the one constant has been my teddy bears. The passion to create these gentle creatures has remained with me, during the best and the worst of times.

There must be many reasons people become teddy bear makers. Mine was simply that I always loved traditional bears, ever since I was child and I had an itch to create my own ... then once I'd started, I couldn't bear to stop!

Thank you so very much if you have been a part of my teddy bear history. I have met many lovely people from around the world during my time as a 'bear artist' and am eternally grateful for the kind homes shared with my teddy bears and the kindness shared with me. 

:-)

Protectors of our teddy bear heritage

Reminding myself of the bear maker I truly am, with this fabulous new big bear!

22" Gulliver

Those who have followed my teddy bears since the mid 90's, will best know me for creating large, traditional teddy bears with soulful faces.  

I love these stately bears, protectors of our teddy bear heritage, guardians of our childhood memories ... and I am so proud to continue to make them for collectors around the world, twenty three years after creating my very first traditional teddy bear.

If you would like to know more about Gulliver, please visit him on my website:

www.allbearbypaula.com

Thank you!

:-)

In the Spotlight

As I was updating the Guild of Master Bearcrafters' blog earlier this week (www.masterbearcrafters.blogspot.co.uk) it dawned on me that in my eagerness to showcase Guild members' talents, I hadn't actually added my own 'member profile' since I first started writing the Guild blog!  I found myself scratching my head and frowning as I pondered  my long bear making career, but eventually, did manage to make sense of it all!

So, if you have ever wondered why I have continued to design and make teddy bears for two long decades, I hope this blog post answers your question ...

A word from PAULA CARTER
creator of
'ALL BEAR BY PAULA
Bearcrafter since 1995

UNITED KINGDOM

Paula Carter

My bear making career evolved from a love of vintage English teddy bears since I was a little girl, particularly the wonderful Hugmee bears created by the Chiltern Hygenic Toy Company between 1908 and 1967.  I have a small collection of these dignified teddy bears and even now they never fail to inspire my creativity.

Some of my Chiltern Hugmee teddies:  C1930's to 50's

It hardly seems possible it has been twenty years since I designed my first teddy bear; the time has flown by!  Since then I have become immersed in the world of teddy bear artistry and am passionate about helping to steer our beloved teddy safely into his future.

Benjamin

It is never easy to describe one's own work, but if pushed to do so, I think I would say I tend to create in a fairly traditional vein.  Now and again I veer gently towards contemporary with my laughing bears, but mostly my bears hark back towards those gentle Chiltern Hugmee teddies, with their solid proportions and no nonsense charm.

Felicity

For me, a teddy bear should spark a sense of nostalgia and security in his owner, he must be soulful, comforting and honest in his design. My creations honour the teddy bears of my childhood and are protective of his heritage.

Beau was a 2015 Excellence in Bear Artistry award winner

I have been fortunate enough to achieve a collection of international teddy bear crafting and design awards throughout the past two decades and have had my work published many times in specialist publications around the world.  It is of course, always lovely to receive such accolades, but the very best rewards are the smiles and kind words I receive from collectors when they adopt one of my bears ... those smiles are at the heart of my bear making.

A trio of my careworn style teds

As part of my commitment to the future of the teddy bear, I established 'The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' back in 2009.  At the time I had a vague concept of providing a forum which could unite teddy bear makers from around the world, but had no idea it would quickly grow to almost eight hundred international bear crafting members.  I am immensely proud of our members' dedication to creating bears of outstanding creativity and am certain that in their safe hands, the beloved teddy bear will be ensured of a long and happy future.

With hugs and smiles,

Paula xxx

To discover more about Paula's work, please visit her website and blog:

www.allbearbypaula.com

www.allbear.blogspot.com

I'd love you to spare a few moments to visit The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' Blog.  I began writing it back in 2013 to showcase incredible bear crafting talent from Guild members.  As you will see, outstanding artist bears are being created all around the world!

www.masterbearcrafters.blogspot.co.uk

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What exactly is an 'Artist Bear'?

I love finding time to meander through the annals of teddy bear history and to stroll along my personal teddy bear 'Memory Lane'.  Sunday afternoon was absolutely glorious, so I tucked myself under the sun parasol with a cool drink to hand and a stack of teddy bear publications to browse.

  Sadly, the 'Hugglets Teddy Bear Magazine' is no longer published.

The question 'What is an Artist Bear' has been hotly debated by 'teddy bear artists', for as long as I can remember - probably since the term was first coined in the US, back in the 1970's.  The topic still raises its controversial head with regular monotony some forty years later, with bear makers/designers/artists becoming hot under the collar as they staunchly defend their own interpretations.  In case you are curious, I am a bear 'artist' who much prefers to call herself a teddy bear 'designer' when pushed to define what I do, simply because this definition sits most comfortably with me, given that my drawing skills are on a par with those of the average four year old ...

So, after a rather magnificent heap of 'bruhaha' (a wonderful term I have recently coined from a bear artist friend!) among teddy bear 'artists' in response to a recently published magazine article on this subject, I had to smile when I opened a magazine binder yesterday and came across an old Hugglets magazine dating back to Summer 1993 ... eighteen long bear-making summers ago. Back then, I was still dreaming about launching myself into the magical world of teddy bear artistry as a bona fide 'bear artist', so on a hot summer's day yesterday, I must admit page 21, titled 'What is an Artist Bear,' made me smile. The first definition had been thoughtfully provided by the lovely lady who was kind enough to give me my first leg into the bear business way back in 1994 -  Michelle Chambers of the Rochester Teddy Bear Shop stated, "For a bear to come under the category of an Artist Bear, it should not be mass produced, but created in a cottage industry environment.  The bear artist is also someone who can turn bear making into a fine art, so that An Artist Bear is a bear with individuality and, most importantly, it has a unique style".

  1993 feature, 'What is an Artist Bear?'

Reading further on, Janet Clark of Teddystyle, a leading light in our world of teddy bear artistry, agreed by saying, "I don't even know that I'm an artist myself, that's up to other people to say .... a good bear maker can put a good face on a bear, but an artist can make that face come to life".  Maddie Janes, another well respected bear maker of that era, went on to say, "If you're a real teddy bear artist, you don't just have one pattern you keep making in different sizes ... you're making new patterns all the time and using new components."

A 'Chiltern Memory' created for me by Pam Howells in the early 90's

UK teddy bear royalty Pamela Ann Howells, chief designer for the Chiltern Toy Company for a decade from the 50's onwards and still creating today, fifty years later, under her own 'Bears that are Special' label, said: "There's just as much thought goes into the designing of a manufactured bear, even if it is mass produced in the end.  The term 'artist bear' is a new phrase really.  I've always considered myself to be a designer and maker.  I know a lot of people feel that a bear is their way of putting their art down, but I don't look at bears that way .... As long as the bear is nice when it's finished, I don't think it matters."

Well, if it's good enough for Pam, it's certainly good enough for me!

The Chiltern Hygenic Toy Company  (can you spot my artist bear Chiltern Memory, among his manufactured friends?)

Manufactured 'Hugmees' 1930 - 1950

And so it seems to me, definitions don't really belong with teddy bears.  After all, a much-loved teddy will appeal to his owner for any number of reasons, least of which is likely to be whether he has been defined as 'art' or not.  In my view, it's best we bear 'crafters' climb down from our high horses and concentrate our energies on creating bears from the heart, taking care not to slip into the murky waters of the ego trap. 

I would like to give the last word to Gregory Gyllenship, one of our finest UK and international teddy bear artists ...

  Gregory, a modest man, defines himself as:
'A bloke who makes bears.'

Well said Gregory!

Hook, line and sinker.

They must be a tough call for any bear, teenage years. My bear stuck around loyally whilst being hauled along by his ear, through to the humiliation of becoming my teen mascot. He suffered the indignity of rosettes, tartan scarves and even stripey socks from time to time, while I obsessed about the Bay City Rollers. Fortunately, it was a brief obsession, tossed carelessly aside as I entered my hormonely fraught teenage years, by which time of course, teddy bears had also been cast aside temporarily, in favour of more intriguing, albeit slightly less hairy, boys.

Which reminds me, my poor father! Teenage obsessions and five, yes FIVE, daughters. For him, they must have been dark days indeed. I do remember he worked long hours ...

We were a handful through our teenage years, there's no doubt about it and if you ask my Dad, I'm sure he'd tell you we still are. At forty four I'm the oldest and my baby sister Laura is eleven years younger. Between us we've produced nine grandchildren for our parents, eight of whom are, would you believe it, girls!
So what does all this have to do with my bear-making? I'm not really sure. I do know that my bear was the key to it all though. I came across a picture of a bear just like him in a bookshop one lunchtime, years ago. It caught my attention and drew me to the credits at the back of the book where there was a teddy bear museum listed. It was within travelling distance, so I couldn't resist planning a visit and once there, I didn't want to leave. I loved those old bears sat patiently in their glass cabinets, they looked like they had so many tales which might never be told and they captured me, hook, line and sinker. From there, it didn't take me long to stumble into the amazing world of artist designed bears and of course, I had to dabble, didn't I?

... and that was how it all began.

He sits on the floor by my bedside these days, my old bear that is. I'll make no excuses, after all, there are none to be made. He'll stay with me until the day either one of us disintegrates into a pile of dust; sometimes that's just the way life is ... don't you think?

Big Ted came into my life on the grand occasion of my first birthday. It was apparent even then, that he was a bear not to be messed with, a bear of significant bearing in fact. He was purchased by my parents while we lived in Africa, and by the age of eighteen months, I had only just grown as tall as my new guardian ... cute kid eh?

Naturally, I'm much older and considerably taller now, and the bear? Well, to say the least, this is one bear with a great deal to answer for ...

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin ... although, to be honest, I'm not quite sure where to start! So, how would you feel if I just let my fingers do the walking and we'll see where they take us?

Do you like the teddy bear? That's a relief! She's my latest creation. Yes, I'm a teddy bear designer, does that surprise you? If you recognised the quote by AA Milne, probably not. My guess is there may be an elderly bear sitting quietly on your pillow, or a little more discreetly at the foot of your bed. You've had him for years and years, he's a wee bit threadbare these days, maybe missing an ear, or an eye, but there's something about him, something very special ...