Violet

O wind, where have you been,
That you blow so sweet?
Among the violets
Which blossom at your feet.

The honeysuckle waits
For Summer and for heat
But violets in the chilly Spring
Make the turf so sweet.

Violet Bear
Next to come from Bramblewood Studios

Many of my bears start with a glint of inspiration, yet lack the full view
of what could be. I ruffle through yards of Mohair until one 'calls' to me and I
settle on it's color, length and texture determining the size of the bear to come.
For Violet, I decided on a wonderfully luscious pile of golden honey Mohair with a slight
curl to it. My mind danced with possibility.
Most of my creations, find themselves.
As I work, they sort of emerge on their own. My fingers work, my mind buzzes, I tweak and alter, yet somehow each bear births itself and tells me what it wants to be.
So it was with Violet.

I wanted to adorn her in colors that contrasted greatly, but also complimented her warm, cozy fur tones. I delighted in finding some violets and poppies stuffed in the back of my craft closet and played around with arranging them in just the right spots and with just the most gentle color combinations. What I found was that I loved the contrast of the Vibrant violet color of her flowers against her more muted tan, brown and orange colors as so fabulously pictured in the painting above.

This of course led to her name being
'Violet".
Sort of obvious, but such a cute and fitting name to be had by such a little girl bear.
Violets remind me of one of my most treasured times of year, spring. Winter is fading and the chill of snow and smothered seedlings begins to wane. flowers emerge in brilliant colors, birds chirp their soul's song and the world again buzzes with life.

Down in a green and shady bed,
A modest violet grew,
Its stalk was bent, it hung its head,
As if to hide from view.
And yet it was a lovely flower,
Its colours bright and fair;
It might have graced a rosy bower,
Instead of hiding there,
Yet there it was content to bloom,
In modest tints arrayed;
And there diffused its sweet perfume, Within the silent shade. Then let me to the valley go,
This pretty flower to see;
That I may also learn to grow
In sweet humility.

~Jane Taylor

I spent a good time mixing varying colors to achieve a nice matching violet color for accentuating her eyes. I wanted this all important color to match identically the violet tones from her scarf and ear flowers. Ah, such a sweet little bear.

In-fatuous wings of Angels blow their fragrance upon the still earth.
Great waving wings eternal, of pure feathery billows flow, gracefully they
birth.
Adoring winds fondly silent upon the breeze, kiss pink cheeks of man’s maiden
fair.
Questing daylight to dawn, flowing gently o’er sea and land searching vastness to
declare.
Scent of violets doth the Angels tread tip toe drops of bluish haze amid Spring’s ebbing
flow.
This is how their love they
show.

~Tomi Delaney

She stands at 12" tall and has ever so slightly bent knees. Her ears are scissor sculpted along with all of her needle felted detailing on her muzzle and paws.
I also spend much time needle sculpting her face for expression and character addition.

Violet has sort of an antique feel to her with a petite bear hump on her back. Her Edwardian scarf was hand made in autumn colors bringing out the color of her embroidered nose and dark ears.

UPON the mead a violet stood,
Retiring, and of modest mood,
In truth, a violet fair.
Then came a youthful shepherdess,
And roam'd with sprightly joyousness,
And blithely woo'd
With carols sweet the air
"Ah!" thought the violet, "had I been
For but the smallest moment e'en
Nature's most beauteous flower,
'Till gather'd by my love, and press'd,
When weary, 'gainst her gentle breast,
For e'en, for e'en
One quarter of an hour!"
Alas! alas! the maid drew nigh,
The violet failed to meet her eye,
She crush'd the violet sweet.
It sank and died, yet murmur'd not:
"And if I die, oh, happy lot,
For her I die,
And at her very feet!"

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1775

Violet is available for sale on Ebay until
August 7th, 2009

The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its lovliness.

~Therese Lisieux


Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

~Mark Twain

Angelina

Angelina Bear
2009

I have always wanted to create an angel bear, but needed just the right
inspiration and accessories. In the end, she turned out just as I had imagined her when I first touched and examined the white feathery soft fur fabric that would become Angelina.

Angelina has been my highest selling bear that I have created to date at over $600.00. I think all of her components just worked really well together and made for a majestic and angelic fluff ball that is hard to resist. Her fur is an exquisite white faux fur that is so soft you could fall asleep on a couple of yards of it for a very long and comfortable nap (so long as you kept your mouth closed as you slept or you may have a mouthful of fluff when you awakened). I experienced this on occasion while working with her lovely fabric. It seemed that as I cut and pinned the fabric in preparation for sewing, little bits of fur would somehow wisp into the air like dandelion seeds caught in the wind, only to somehow settle in my mouth. Of course when I would try to carefully pick the soft ultra fine hairs off the tip of my tongue, I would then end up with double the amount in my mouth from what was sticking to my fingers. By the time I was finished with Angelina, I felt like I needed to cough up a hair ball!
The finished product of my first Angel bear was a success and no amount of annoying hair swallowing could take away from the excitement I felt when she was complete.

My bears mean so much more to me than simply the amount of money they bring at the end of an auction. They are my expression. My outlet. My art. They represent me in a way that is vulnerable and uncomfortable at times. I tend to rate them by how well they are received by collectors which is,9 times out of 10, wonderful. I am so thankful to my collectors. I consider each one a friend. Occasionally, I have a flop and even after all of those amazing sales beyond my expectations, one failure can make an artist feel completely undone. I know, it sounds a bit
extreme, but emotions run deep and thick in the veins of us artistic folk.
It is like announcing to the world, here it is! My soul, my innermost creative thought and expression. And then you wait.......

Will they like it?

Will the price go up?

Is my style obvious and unique?

The list goes on and on.

When the response is excellent, it is like a glee of acceptance that is personal and raw. When it is not so good, well, frankly it can devastate.

Angelina Bear was one of those bears that set my artistic flame on fire. She helped me to
gain confidence as a credible bear artist and to attain to a higher standard in my bear making. I still feel quite hesitant and insecure with finding my flow and consistency.....but I think if I felt that I had 'arrived' at artistic creation heaven, where would the fun in it be?

Where would the struggle at attaining that ever fleeting inspiration and striving to be better, being more attuned and skilled?

To me, that is the spurring challenge. And when that challenge is met with applause, it is like a long deep swallow of extra hot vanilla latte. It satisfies and sets the artistic fire burning ever brighter and stronger.

Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly.
~Mother Teresa

Angelina is 17" tall, one of the largest bears from my collections. As with all Bramblewood Bears she has needle felted detailing as well as subtle shading to bring out her eyes, ears and paws.

Ever felt an angel's breath in the gentle breeze?

A teardrop in the falling rain?

Hear a whisper amongst the rustle of leaves?

Or been kissed by a lone snowflake?

Nature is an angel's favorite hiding place.
~Carrie Latet

I didn't want to skimp on Angelina's wings especially as they
are her crowning jewel. Her wonderful wings are made from real turkey feathers
and even have tiny wispy baby like down that flow into the larger brilliant white
feathers below.

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby ye may have entertained angels unawares."

~Hebrews 13: 2

To me,
Angelina's eyes are her most enduring feature. They seem so deep and innocent, yet so wise and attentive. She seems to almost peer into your soul like and old trusted dear friend, but with the knowledge of heaven and the inner-workings of the spirit realm.

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~Michelangelo

I hope you have enjoyed Angelina.

Perry

Artists, the strange and odd people we tend to be, look at the world
through inspired and interpretive eyes. Everything we touch, feel
and see becomes a part of our mind's palette. Inspiration can come from
anything or nothing at all, and it is a very fragile and funny thing.
It only shows up when it wants to. It can not be called upon
when needed or convenient. It can visit for great periods of time or stay away and only arrive occasionally to then
vanish again without the slightest notice, as if scared away by the faintest flitter.


So,


What do you think of when you see a fur coat?

Paris hotels with lush accommodations, lobbies brimming with expensive swanky women and cigar puffing men in top hats with perfectly folded handkerchiefs?

or

New York Fashion shows, long legged models strolling the catwalk in the latest fleeting must have fashion.

or

Perhaps you think, poor animal had to give up his life just for someone's ego.

What do I think?



BEARS!

Perry Bear
2009

Tale of two coats

Perry Bear's existence began as an old, very vintage
deep chocolate brown fur coat in a dilapidated musty smelling auction house hidden amidst a small nothing else to do town. I found it, and another shockingly ugly hunter's orange fur coat at a local low scale auction that my husband and I love to frequent. The two were sold as one lot and although I didn't want the orange beast, I did immediately see potential in the soft vibrant brown throwaway coat that no one else seemed the least bit interested. I quickly and all too obviously bid with my number in hopes of outbidding all the other half sleeping bored crowd, as if I would loose it to interest. To my delight, no one cared or was the least bit excited about the old worn out coat hidden behind the glare of the orange 'thing'. I could tell that even the auctioneer, who was not the picky type regarding what he was willing to sell to any paying dummy with a number, even patted himself on the back for selling such a tosser to some young ignorant girl. Well, needless to say I won the two coats with a single low bid





The lovely coat pictured here is very similar to the old faux fur coat I so cheerfully purchased from the rickety auction house. It has a red lined interior. Although, mine had big knobby brown buttons all down the front that were half falling off from years of fastening. I couldn't stop dreaming of what I could do with this forlorn little piece of treasure. It wasn't long before I was nervously cutting and clipping pattern pieces to my heart's content.

Perry was my second bear created from my 'Wilderness Bear' collection.
His tiny bear toes still delight me to this day. Each of my creations becomes
to me as sort of a child. They go off to their new homes and I miss them, but
delight in the knowledge and hope that they may bring some spark of joy
to their new owner's lives.

Perry's bear has old world characteristics with his
over sized bear hump and long bent arms and legs.

Perry seemed to extol properness. For him I designed and fashioned a vibrant salmon and evergreen vest with two bear sized buttons that reminisced of the coat that gave Perry life. Of course no respectable bear would be complete without a gentlemanly pocket watch. I used a real silver chain and paper glossed time piece to fit perfectly inside his embroidered pocket.

Perry is a bear very dear to my heart. My spirit finds delight in the thought

that he has brought a glimmer to your time here an ever so faint smile to your soul.




In case you are wondering.....the orange beast is still with me hanging heavily deeply hidden in
the back of my large closet. I still have to squint my eyes from the glare that shines from the back of my wardrobe. But I am a sucker and can't throw the poor thing away. Perhaps in the future if the economy slump worsens, you will find a brilliant orange bear beauty staring at you from my blog and you will know why.

Danika

She dreams ever so shyly
of being a real grown-up dancing bear.
Twirling on cotton candy clouds of imaginations.

Created sweet as pie from long semi-sparse brown sugar Mohair
and imported honeycomb sand Merino wool.

Danika Bear is an example of mixed media artisanship.
Traditional sewing methods utilized in bear making with added
folky needlefelted details to accentuate her unique bearsonality.

I must say, my inspiration for Danika came entirely from her pink sticky-sweet
cotton candy tutu. As I contemplated on her adorning and wardrobing her
furry cuteness, I just knew she needed pink, pink and more pink!

Like most little girls, Danika doesn't venture far without
her most treasured companion.
Her dolly lovingly named
"Poppy"