My art background is mostly self taught and enhanced through investigation, experimentation and life experience. I enjoy being different, doing the unusual, impossible or even the controversial.
I quit school to study art in person, traveling in Europe. I learned to love animals and nature while on an exciting 40 day safari in Africa.
My niche in the bear world is making real looking bears-on-all-fours and creating my fantasy creatures from another planet. The two are extremes at either end of the spectrum of bear-making.
The fantasy creatures have gotten me recognized - they are Bedi-terres, winged bears from another planet, and their companions, which are sometimes a combination of earthly animals. For instance, Troc the Crocadero is part crocodile and part warthog. They have an ecological story explaining their existence, coming from a planet in the constellation Orion where pollution has endangered their lives.
I design and construct all my bears by myself, about 200 each year. I love designing new things the most. Sometimes it is a surprise and that is exciting. Each bear starts with a drawing and I always do the head last. I allow myself the fantasy that the bear is able to breathe with the application of the nose. I cut the fabric pieces freehand using the pattern only as a guide, which adds to the uniqueness of each finished animal. I rarely repeat the same bear in the same materials. Different fabrics, mohair, synthetic or whatever, dramatically changes the character of the bear.
My proudest achievement was in 1989 when I invented the "Quizzy-face " joint behind the ears, which allows the face to swivel in a quizzical pose. In conjunction with the neck joint it becomes a double-jointed neck allowing the bear to look left and right. I have taught classes explaining this feature and now many others are using it also.
Bearmaking is also mental therapy. It releases tension and is very relaxing. I finish even the most peculiar experimental bear, because a laugh is as good as an award.
To me, bearmaking is an art form, a form of sculpture. I like to believe I am making each and every one for myself to satisfy me. I'm delighted when someone else loves them. I'm very optimistic about the bear as a collectible. I would like even more challenges from the art side of bear making. I enjoy the people associated with bear collecting. Customers and artists have become a social network. I just make bears and meet people, the bears do the rest.