Capítulo III Marco Teórico y Referencial
3.1 Conceptos básicos sobre el mantenimiento industrial
Making Bear Is The
Finished Result
P ROFILE – A NN -M ARIE D ODD O F B EARMETOO
EDITED BY SUSAN LEIGH
I
live in a small town in the south of Sw eden with my husband and three children. We live five minutes from an old castle and lake with surrounding woodland. It is so lovely and peaceful to walk here. I find the colour changes throughout the year very inspirational.I have been making bears for nearly 10 years and next year I will celebrate this anniversary. I don´t know how I’ll be celebrating yet, maybe with a teddy bear giveaway…
I first became interested in bears on a trip in England where I spotted a teddy bear magazine. After reading it I was totally hooked. I couldn´t wait to get home to have a try myself. I have loved it ever since.
I have always been creating things. I started knitting at the age of seven and have been doing knitting, drawing, sewing, crochet since then.
As long as my fingers was doing something I knew I was happy. I love to create and try new ideas and techniques.
I haven´t been doing any bear making classes as there are none back home. I have learned everything I know about teddy bear making myself the hard way, try and try again until you are happy with the result.
I like bears that are a bit different from the traditional teddy bears.
My Favourite part of making a bear is the finished result
BEAR CREATIONS 61
That is why I started to needle felt the faces as I could do my own style. In the beginning I made bigger bears but I have over the years made smaller and smaller bears. I do not do the same bears all the time as I like to try to change my pattern sometimes. I do not have a favorite colour, as I find it depends on what mood I am in when I start on a new bear.
I like to use the best material you can get on the market. And to me that is Schulte mohair / alpaca / viscose from Germany. You really get the
best result with it and it is so nice to work with. When you are a beginner to bear making then you can get cheaper mohair to work with as you might do some mistakes and have to start over again.
I like that my bears stand out from a normal teddy bear and I love when collectors tell me how my bears make them smile. To me there is nothing better than that. Even people who are not collectors appreciate the style and comment the work put in. I feel my bears’ needle-felted faces are
part of my signature style. I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something different and I had some needle felt yarn at home so I started to try to make a teddy bear face. As I hadn´t any experience from needle felting either, it took some time to get the face just right. My bears have definitely changed over the years. You as an artist always try to make something better or try new techniques, well I am like that and I am sure most artists try to improve their work all the time. My favourite
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P ROFILE – A NN -M ARIE D ODD O F B EARMETOO
part of making bears is the finished result, when the bear is looking back at you with its black little eyes.
My inspiration can be anything, from nature to something you see in a magazine or to just look through my mohair stash what to use.
My special tip for making a bear is to stuff the bear head “hard” otherwise the nose won´t be easy to sew.
My most memorable experience was during my first show in London a few years back, I remember it like yesterday: people rushed to my stand to get hold of my bears and
I was so surprised and “shocked”
with happiness. I had no idea that collectors liked my bears; it was lovely to see and to speak to them.
I regularly attend bear shows in Munster and Wiesbaden in Germany, and attend Hugglets in London once a year. I enjoy meeting other artists face to face and seeing the face of collectors when they see my teddy bears.
I´m always on the look-out for accessories for my bears, which can be from craft fairs exhibitions or I will knit a hat or sew a dress. I usually
make the outfits myself and then put a bell or ribbon with it.
I sell my bears from my website, bear pile and Facebook. As there is no local market you need to reach further out. Otherwise I would only be able to attend craft fairs.
My friends and family think I´m talented and at least they know where I am all the time! Lol that is in my studio. My Mum has been an inspiration, full of support and help with some dressmaking when time was short. As a child my mother and her mother taught me to knit and later I helped my mother making dresses for dolls.
My advice to new bearmakers is to find your own style and don´t be afraid to make mistakes. Practice makes perfect.
I have entered a number of competitions and have won two TOBY Industry’s Choice Awards, and first place in TED Worldwide Awards 2014/2015 among other competitions. I have also come second place in URSA 2010, BBAA 2009 and 2010, and in Taiwan Teddy Bear Awards 2011.
6. Ann-Marie Dodd of BearMeToo can be contacted at:
E-mail : bearmetoo@yahoo.
Website : www.bearmetoo.se