Bear essentials of teddy art world…
Bear essentials of teddy art world…
Teddy bears are not just childrens toys,
they are collectibles, as Ann Clinch
discovered when she visited a
north Devon farm and
met a bear artist
CAR boot sales are happy hunting grounds for Karen Milton, a north Devon farmers wife and bear artist. It is here that she seeks the toy pandas and Wendy Boston bears that she collects and bric a brac and costume trimmings for the bears that she makes.
Her bears, usually miniatures up to four inches high, are a far cry from the simply styled Wendy Boston ones that were so popular with families a few decades ago. "They were the first bears you could wash and hang out," says Karen, adding that collectors will now pay "something like £35" for a Wendy Boston bear.
"Bears by Karen", as she styles her own creations, are not toys, although she has made bears for little bridesmaids to carry instead of flowers. Her bears are intended for grown up bear lovers, people like her aunt, whose enthusiasm encouraged Karen to channel her skills into this art form.
Many people share this love of bears, so much so that teddy bear fairs have a strong following. Visitors quite often bring their own bears along with them for the outing, says Karen, going on to describe a man who regularly turns up with his bear perched on his shoulders.
Teddy bear enthusiasts have their own magazines, too. "Pick up one of these and suddenly there is a whole new world opening up," says Karen, who keeps a copy of The UK Teddy Bear Guide 1999 to hand. Subtitled "The essential resource for Teddy Bear lovers" and published by Hugglets, the guide contains more than 1000 entries.
* Club member
Also, Karen belongs to Tedi Bach Hugs, a club that helps her source materials and sell her finished bears.
Karen made her first bear less than three years ago as a gift for her aunt. That bear she now considers to be full of faults, although her aunt still cherishes it. Karens son was given her second bear, a miniature which she now disparages too for what she describes as poor workmanship in a seam. Its a fault that those who do not appreciate the finer points of bear-making would not even notice.
All Karens family received bear gifts before she began making bears for sale through specialist shops and fairs. Each one is an individual and the result of much careful work and a lot of imagination. She spends about 10 hours on the construction, most of it hand-sewing, and a similar amount of time on the clothing, setting and sundries that help express the bears character, give an insight into the history Karen has dreamt up for it, and direct the choice of name.
Theres Bert, for example, the wounded soldier with bandaged head and battle ribbons on his chest who sits in an ARP first aid box with a first aid book tucked up beside him. Then theres Pirate Pete with his own galleon and a stack of treasure. He sports a tattoo as well as an eye patch. Pete was made for a competition and was eventually sold at a teddy bear fair in Kensington, London.
* Feminine bear
In contrast, Violetta is a tiny, very feminine bear with a purple head. About her neck she wears fabric violets cut from an old hat. Ria is another stylish lady, dressed in sequins and beads, while Great Aunt Lucy is decked in hat, shawl and furbelows.
"Mum and Dad are into antiques and find old materials for me and boot buttons for eyes," says Karen, who is not averse to "distressing" a bear, plucking its fur and rubbing it around the smoky stove if she feels the character requires it.
"I dont know what I am going to make when I start, but the character seems to appear as the work progresses. I begin to see whether it is a girl or a boy bear and what its life story is going to be and suddenly this person is there, this bear with a name and a character."
Karen designs her own patterns and favours bears with long noses, straight legs and long, but quite narrow, arms.
On average, she produces one and a half bears a week because her time for bear-making is limited. Besides caring for husband Robin and their two children, she has a role to play within the extended family at Partridge Arms Farm, Yeo Mills, West Anstey, which is on the slopes of Exmoor.
Here Robin and his brother Rex farm more than 121ha (300 acres) with their father John. About one-third is used to produce stock feed for sheep – they lamb 800 ewes – and the 40-strong beef herd. They have diversified by setting up a small shoot which, in turn, produces more customers for the familys main diversification, a farm guesthouse which is a former pub and has a residential licence.
* Guesthouse enterprise
This is also the principal farmhouse and the home of John and Hazel Milton. Hazel is supported in the guesthouse enterprise by both their daughters-in-law. While her sister-in-law enjoys working on the farm too, especially helping with lambing, Karen concentrates on the six Milton children.
"We usually have our meals in the farmhouse kitchen," says Karen, who does the school run and finds that waiting to collect children from their music lessons gives her a useful opportunity for some quiet teddy bear stitching.
She records details of each of the bears she makes and each will have her tiny horseshoe trademark tucked somewhere about its person or setting.
Already, her bears have travelled far and wide. Some have gone to Australia and Canada as family gifts. Others have gone to Switzerland from a London bear fair and she received her top price – £90 – for one of her bears bought as part of a consignment sold at a Teddy Bears Picnic at an English-style park in Japan.