I am back from Philadelphia with a lighter suitcase. I am so happy to say that all the bears sold during the Friday evening show that was held for the convention goers. Since everyone that purchased a bear was there for the weekend they kindly allowed me to keep the bears on the table for the public show on Saturday. I have updated my website with pictures of the bears I took to the show. I have also added lots of pictures to my Facebook page,
you can view them here, I keep the page public, so even if you do not have an account you should still be able to see them.
I took one special bear to the show, well actually a two bear set. There was a OOAK sale and competition on the first night of the convention. I thought about this piece for months. I knew that the pieces shown here would be spectacular, and that I had to have a bear that would be noticed amongst all the beauty. I thought about dressing the bear to help it stand out, but in the end I left the bear undressed. I did make her big, she was 23”, the largest bear I have ever made.
I was allowed to bring her into the room and place her into her designated spot. I spent about fifteen minutes or so brushing and arranging her just right. I tilted her head back so that she would be gazing up at the passersby, clutching at her teddy friend. I named my piece “A Teddy for Bear.” I was one of the first ones in with my piece so I had no idea what anyone else had done.
That evening I walked into that room and I actually got teary eyed at the beauty. The work was spectacular, both the dolls and the bears. Everyone had put out their very best. I knew in that instant I had not done enough.
We were all given ballets and were only allowed to vote in one category, either dolls or bears. The artists were allowed four votes, and the collectors allowed two. There would be four artist awards given and two collector awards given in each category.
I did have many people tell me over the next couple of days how much they liked Shush, (Shush means bear in Navajo) I also had quite a few people tell me that she was looking at them. There were many people there who had never seen a realistic style teddy bear, and they were interested.
At the final dinner on Saturday evening the awards were announced, my name was called first, and called twice. Shush had one both, the Beverly Port Award of Excellence given by the artists and the collectors.
I was truly surprised, they had to tell me to stand up, I just sat there dumbfounded. I do think the time I spent in the room with her making sure she was “looking” at people made a difference. Sometimes the smallest details mean a lot.
It is a true honor for me to stand her among this group of incredibly talented people. I will never forget it.
I have spent the better part of seven months preparing for this show. I have not have anything to show here for all that time, so I have been quiet. I look forward to getting back to work and posting more again. Next year I am hoping a place opens up for me at Hugglets in London. The show is not till September, so I have lots of time to work and post till I need to be quiet again.