Texas

The retreat is over and I had a great time. I thought the class went well. I might have concentrated less on the bear I was needlefelting and looked to see how everyone else was doing but it was a learning experience so I'll know the next time.

The rest of the weekend was jam packed with lots of seminars. We made collars and hats; trapunto feet; and learned how to paint on leaves so that we could decorate our bears. I didn't participate in making shoes but I watched.

It was great to get together with my bear pals and spend time talking bears and other stuff.

Now it's on to all the projects I was inspired to do while I was there. The bear I needlefelted looked more like a lion. Could it have been the fact that I've been thinking about making one so that's what it turned out to be? I'm thinking that I'll re-do the head and make him more bearlike rather than make him into a lion.

In the spirit of the retreat I decided to do the Austin show (third time) this year and the Atlanta show (first time) so I'd better get some bears ready.

Getting Ready

The pattern is drafted; the material is ordered; and the prototype is well on it's way. I keep thinking that the end of March is a LONG way off but you know what they say, "time flies, no matter what you're doing".

My class description is also written and hopefully today it will be a little sunny out so I can take a picture of a bear with a needlefelted muzzle and send it off to Luann.

I've been in the bear spirit lately. I'm back to dyeing mohair and cutting out patterns (besides the one I'm doing for the class). I really have to be creative because my stash of mohair is so low my pawsibilities could be a little limited. However, some really interesting things could come out of it.

Things To Come

Another bear is close to completion--not the accenting or the final tweaking which should be done in the next couple of days.

I've decided that this will be my pattern for the class I'm teaching at the retreat that is being held in Fredricksburg, Texas, the last weekend in March. I think it will be just the right size--about 10-12 inches. There will be one miniature artist coming and I hope it's not too big for her.

This is my first attempt at teaching more than one person at a time so I'm glad it will be with friends.

Back To Bears

The bears have taken a big back seat to my life as evidenced by my lack of posting. I officially can't complain about people who don't update their blogs--I'm guilty!

But now, I'm happy to say, I'm back to creating again. I'll figure out my new camera and soon I'll have a few bears to post.

I'm looking forward to the bear retreat in Fredricksburg, Texas the end of March. I'm going to be teaching a class on needlefelting muzzles. I haven't decided how yet. It might take too long to do a whole muzzle and I have to decide if I just give the students just heads to work on what body will they put it on? Doing a class on just accenting eyes would be a five minute class.

I hope that after doing the class in Texas I'll have the confidence to teach a regular bear class here in Athens. It would be nice to get a bear community started here.

Wired

One of the drawbacks with moving is when you need an item to finish a critter; it's 1500 miles away. But, really thinking about it; I'm not going to quit making bears anytime soon and I can use the extra stuff I buy eventually.

Today I'm going to work on Uncle. I've been wanting to wire his arms and legs so he could move more like a monkey.

If time permits, I'll work on the dog which is so close to being finished. All the while, I've got a new creation running around in my head. Just like old times!

It's great to be back to the creating mode even if I have to go out and buy extra stuff.

A First!

I'm doing my first show in Georgia. It's a cool little gallery called Flat Penny Folk Art here in Athens. There'll be about ten exhibitors--some painters; some quilters; potters; and me! I may want to make some more creations for it. Even though I have enough for a show.

Athens is just what I needed to fuel my artist's soul! I believe I've found my niche.

Back to Creating

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. A lot has happened with the move to Georgia and trying to get myself established. My computer's been a little cantankerous (probably the user) and I haven't been able to update my website. Now, by some miracle, I've gotten it to work and I plan on re-vamping my site.

Athens is such a vibrant city and the artist community is very inspiring. A friend asked me if I thought my bears would change because I moved. I think that might be a possibility. I'm drawn to more traditional bears because of the gentle culture of the South; but, I'm also being drawn to crazy creatures since Athens has culture that's uniquely it's own.

The future looks bright and I'm warming up my creative thinking cap.